Qualities
by GoXC
Summary: First fanfic! After reading a book, Sai attempts to portray the qualities he thinks women desire in a man.
1. Funny Man

_Okay, this is my first attempt at a fanfic, I'll save the nonsense for the bottom of the page. Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Qualities<strong>

Chapter 1: _**Funny Man**_

Sakura stared blankly at the scene before her. With no particular focal point, the white gauze, tan bandages, and blue gloves swam together in a mess of color. It was a relatively mundane day at the hospital, and consequently, not one that nurtured focus. Shaking her head to regain some semblance of purpose, she ran through the list of supplies she was gathering in her head.

_Gauze, bandages, rubber gloves, antiseptic… _

With nothing much else to do today, she was restocking her portable medic kit before heading out early for a bit of training. She really could do with more of that. She was getting… rusty, to put it lightly. Sure, she could still demolish heaven and earth with a chakra laced punch, but she had been neglecting her more basic training. So it was off for a little taijustu training with Naruto and then a nice long soak in the bath. Perhaps a little ramen thrown in if Naruto was especially persuasive today.

"Knock knock."

Sakura jumped slightly as she was pulled from her thoughts of spars and noodles. She closed the door to the supply closet, only to see a familiar pale face. "Sai, what are you doing here?"

"Knock knock."

She bit back a sigh as she carefully placed the last few supplies in her bag. Sai had been acting strange lately, but what else was new? He often times started doing weird things, but he was Sai. And hadn't she _really_ regretted asking him what he was up to last time? Yes, she would simply play along until she caved and inquired about his latest string of odd behavior. "Who's there?"

"Boo."

"Boooo whoooo?" she drew the words out, in order to make his joke more effective.

"Do not cry, it is only a joke."

"Cute," she deadpanned.

The ink user frowned, cocking his head slightly, "Do you not understand the joke?"

She straightened up to look her naive friend in the eye, "I get it, Sai," she paused for the shortest of moments, "I'm going to train with Naruto, would you like to come?" The kunoichi was hoping to distract Sai to avoid further discussion of his attempted humor. Plus, she figured Naruto wouldn't mind. The blond kyuubi container could easily spar with the both of them and still have the energy to run around the village backwards three times. She often times envied his endless stamina.

At others, it simply annoyed her.

The pale boy merely shrugged and strode out of the hospital with her.

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><p>Sakura panted as sweat rolled down her face… and arms… and other unmentionable places. She jumped to the right, narrowly avoiding a well placed kick to the jaw. She quickly followed thru with a chakra infused punch to her blonde friend's stomach sending him hurtling backwards several meters.<p>

"Sakura-chan! That's cheating, we said no chakra!" Naruto argued, but he was grinning all the same as he brushed himself off to no avail. He was covered in a layer of dirt and sweat, making his hair stick together in a brownish blonde mess.

"Hmm, did we?" she said, feigning innocence.

He dramatically rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Sai, who was propped up against the base of a tree, drawing. "Let's see what you got, inky!"

Sai leveled a good humored glare at Naruto before packing up the scroll he was working on and joining his blonde-haired friend.

Sakura decided to fall, er plop… lay down on the ground right where she was. She closed her eyes and listened to the taunting and sounds of exertion coming from her teammates as she relaxed and let her heart rate return to normal.

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><p>"I think she's sleeping."<p>

"No she isn't, dickless, she's just waiting on you to get close enough to punch."

Naruto, being ever-stupid... I mean brave, simply edged closer to the motionless Sakura and kicked her side lightly. She sprang to life and grabbed his ankle, bringing him down to the ground in one swift motion. "There, I beat you _without_ chakra," she proclaimed, poking him in the chest.

He grinned for a moment as he looked up at her before he exploded out, "Hey Sakura-chan you wafgna mfo ggrbddfdm-"

"Don't ruin my moment with ramen."

He looked decidedly put out as she removed her hand from his mouth. "But okay, we'll get ramen-"

"YAY!"

"_If_ you help me up," she groaned and reached her hands out in front of her like a small child.

"Lazy Sakura-chan," he muttered playfully as he helped her up. She replied by slapping him in the back of the head.

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><p>After a quick bowl of ramen, Sakura had declared that she needed a soak and several hours of sleep. With that, she departed Ichiraku.<p>

Naruto was on his sixth bowl and still counting.

Sai, too, had apparently decided to leave, but without much of an explanation.

And so, the worn down, pink headed ninja was dreaming of hot baths and quick dinners when a certain ink using ninja ascended from a rooftop and fell in stride with her. She bit back a sigh, knowing what was coming. A joke. It had been like this for the past several days. Sai had quit his day job to become a comedian, or so it seemed. He had been showing up randomly, only to tell her jokes. She was a good sport about it at first, forcing a smile if she could manage. But as his charade wore on, she could only manage to not strangle him. It didn't help that his jokes sounded like they came from a taffy wrapper.

Without introduction Sai launched off his joke, "What falls down but does not ever get hurt?"

"Sai," Sakura begin, with a tone reserved for a small child.

"Snow," his punch line came and went without inflection or emotion.

"Sai," she began again, "Where did you get these?"

"A book."

A book… of course a book. It's Sai. "I don't mean to hurt your…" she paused to analyze her phrase of speech. Deciding it wasn't particularly suited to this individual, she simply got to the point, "These jokes you're telling… they're cheesy."

The young man tilted his head slightly, "Cheesy?"

"Yes, they're cheesy. They're not any good."

"I do not understand."

"You'll have to get someone else to explain it, Sai. I'm tired," She moaned and drug her feet for emphasis.

"Very well," and with that, he was gone.

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><p>The next morning, Sai appeared on Sakura's walk to work. The urge to smack her head on the nearest blunt object was strong.<p>

"I'm ready," she said grudgingly, before her dark haired friend had a chance to speak.

Sai smiled woodenly, "What did the penis say to the condom?"

Sakura's eyes widened, "Sai!"

"Cover me efmgorgngin." He blinked, glancing down at her hand covering his mouth.

"Stop talking," she demanded.

He merely nodded as she slowly removed her appendage. "Did you not wish to hear the punch line?"

"Where did you get that joke?"

"I was in search of someone to explain _cheesy_ to me last night when I came across Genma. He explained to me the best kind of joke, and told me one, which I was telling you."

Sakura slapped a palm to her forehead, "In the future, don't listen to anything Genma tells you."

"I do not understand."

"That's a _dirty_ joke. It's not nice to tell them. Why are you so intent on telling jokes nowadays anyways?" There it was, she caved.

Sai paused, actually stopping mid-stride, "I read a book."

"That clears it up."

Sai smiled his fake smile, evidently pleased that she understood so quickly.

"What was the book about?" she prodded.

"Women."

She sighed deeply, "Give me a full explanation, Sai."

"I read a book about women," he paused, "and the things that they like," another pause, "In a man."

"And?" Sakura was short on patience this morning and she simply didn't see the connection.

"It said that women like a man who can make them laugh."

She could've kicked herself as she looked at Sai's naive expression. She knew better than to get angry at him, but sometimes he was damn annoying. He was only trying to be human, to fit in, something she knew he desperately wanted. It was just that in his infinite naivety he went about stuff all wrong. She couldn't count the number of times she'd answered his questions about this or that, and that was no easy feat. He was completely unabashed about asking potentially embarrassing questions and then wondered why Sakura turned red. She shook her head slightly, a small smile playing on her lips. "Sai, you can't just go around telling jokes to be funny. You just have to let those kinds of things happen naturally, you can't force them."

"But I am not humorous _naturally_," he placed particular emphasis on the last word.

"Sure you are. You've made me laugh countess times." _In frustration, _she added, only in her head.

"Really?" he seemed to brighten up considerably at that.

"Sure," she glanced at her watch and noted that she was going to be late if she didn't get going. "And next time you wanna practice your wooing skills, branch out."

Sai was about to tell her he wasn't practicing, but she was gone.

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><p><em>Sooo... I still wasn't really happy with that but I'm a bit anal about editing (Most likely due to the fact that the Neji hiding in my closet is rubbing off on me). I'm most likely going to continue on and make a few more of these, which will also be very short (but that's my intention, after all). It's very likely I'll be able to get one out before the start of the next semester, but then again, I'm probably talking to no one! Yay! <em>

_Big thanks to anyone who is actually reading this! You. Are. Awesome. _


	2. Protective Man

_**Okie dokie, so.. I had a little trouble with this chapter. I had an idea, but had a little trouble executing it. Ultimately, I'm not that happy with it, but I'm calling it done. Don't expect any exciting action scenes from me, as that's not my cup 'o tea. I would prefer to put "blah blah blah, fighting, etc," and leave you all to your own imaginations, but I've given the vaguest of details to accomplish my goal in the scene. And I will strive to improve that area of my writing. **_

_**Uhm, I also made some stuff up, but it's fanfiction so just roll with it. **_

_**Also! OMG I was so excited at everyone who read my first chapter! I'll hold my shout outs and fangirl squeals till the end.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>Qualities<strong>

Chapter 2: _**Protective **__**Man**_

It was just what the doctor ordered. A time honored outlet for stress and frustration. A way to release some pent up energy. Perhaps do a little bonding, in Sakura's case, with the opposite sex. Heck, if she was lucky, maybe get a little workout from it.

Much to Sakura's dismay, she was neither panting, nor sweating. She was not even particularly enjoying herself. No, she was just walking.

Still, she couldn't help but be a little excited, it was a mission after all.

Sure, it was a simple escort mission, but there was a moderate chance of bandits attacking. A _moderate_ chance. And hadn't that made Sakura practically giddy in the Hokage's office?

Her smirk quickly faded into a scowl as she thought of how Tsunade had commented on her pale skin. Too many hours in the hospital, she said. It wasn't far from the truth. That hospital, with its white walls bathed in a harsh fluorescent light had truly done terrible things to her complexion.

And Naruto. That stupid, stupid boy had said she was starting to look like Sai. Her fists clenched involuntarily as they longed for violent contact with the blonde idiot.

"Sakura," a voice startled her out of her thoughts, "I'm pleased you're back on the team again."

The pink-haired girl forced a smile as she looked up at her teammate, a head taller than she, "Thanks Sai."

"Yeah Sakura-chan! It's been sooo long since we've been on a mission together," Naruto commented, practically bouncing around them. "And like granny Tsunade says, you could use some sun," he poked her cheek lightly.

Sakura glared at him. She really was trying to work on her temper these days. Yamato had said she was more than a little abrasive. And hadn't she practically blown up at him for that, thus proving his point? No, she wouldn't punch the kyuubi container.

Not yet.

"You're like twins!" he exclaimed, looking from Sakura to Sai, and back again.

She would not punch him. "Shut up Naruto!" the medic grumbled. "Shouldn't you be walking with Isamu-san?" she looked pointedly at the man walking a few meters in front of them. He was clad in heavy robes that were a light blue color. On the back was the symbol for Kusagakure, resembling blades of grass. Yes, they were barely outside the walls of Konoha, there was hardly a threat, but still…

Naruto grumbled as he strode forward to catch up with their dignitary, startling him with the question that had been on his mind since the start of their mission.

"Are there any ramen places in Kusagakure?"

Some things never change.

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><p>It was a simple escort mission, yes. Some records keeper had come from Kusagakure to retrieve an important scroll from the Konoha archives. In exchange, they were returning with their own scroll. A trade. Sakura couldn't understand why they couldn't simply <em>deliver<em> the scroll, and instead had to escort some executive who couldn't kick his way out of a haystack. Shizune said it was something about not trusting Konoha-nin, but wasn't this supposed to strengthen their alliance? It hardly mattered to Sakura, a mission is a mission. She could only hope that it would be more than a long, boring walk.

It was only herself, Sai, and Naruto, as Yamato was still recovering from a nasty accident involving Naruto and Lee. She felt bad for her captain, falling prey to the likes of the jinchuuriki's prank, but in reality, it was the only reason she was on this mission. At least the blonde knucklehead had his uses.

Sakura's patience was running thin as they stopped for yet another break. This time, miles from the border of Fire Country. She had forgotten what a pain it was, traveling with civilians. It took twice as long to get anywhere, and you had to stop and 'rest' several times. It was enough to make Sakura feel like she was going to explode. As per usual when they stopped, Sai pulled out his scroll and summoned several mice to scout the area.

Naruto was chatting excitedly with Isamu-san as they sat on a downed tree. Apparently, the older man's grandson had a love of ramen that could rival only Naruto's. They hit it off and had been chatting about flavors and the best places to eat ever since.

Sakura settled on the ground next to Sai, who was waiting to hear from his mice. He turned to regard her with one of his famous smiles, "Are you tired?"

She scoffed, "No, why would I be? We're only walking."

"You have not been keeping up with your fitness. You are becoming slow."

"I… I am not!" she spluttered, "I can still kick your-" she stopped. Sai had shot up from the ground and was staring out into the woods.

"Be on your guard," he ordered, nodding in the direction of Naruto.

Sakura stood up quickly, excitement bubbling in her chest, "What is it?"

Without answering, Sai took a step forward. Sakura rocked back into a fighting stance, hoping for some action. Just then, the ink user's mice returned and scurried back into his scroll. He turned around to face her, wooden smile adorning his face, "Just a wild animal."

Sakura huffed loudly, which was, considering her disappointment, the most professionalism she could muster at the time. She smoothed her clothing out before glancing up with a fake smile on her face. Maybe she had been spending too much time with the artist-nin. He returned her smile with his own, before they both looked at Naruto who shifted uncomfortably under their creepy stares. They really did look like twins now, he thought, pale and smiling.

"I'm quite rested now," Isamu-san spoke, breaking the awkward silence between the team.

Naruto clapped his hands together excitedly, jumping on the change of subject, and moments later they were traveling through the forest again.

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><p>Shortly after crossing over the Fire Country border, it happened. Sakura was trudging along rather dejectedly. Tired, but unwilling to let it show. Disappointed, and more than willing to show it. She was certain this was to be no more than a long, tedious walk. They were nearly to Kusagakure now, and they hadn't so much as received a dirty look from anyone they passed.<p>

Fortunately - or perhaps unfortunately - their bandits were not very skilled. No, they were no more skilled than genin. But they were hefty, and there were plenty of them. Nine to be exact.

Of course, the ninja had sensed them long before their attack. Even Sakura, who was quietly sulking some distance behind her teammates.

It was the moment she had been waiting for. Combat. She quickly took her spot near Isamu-san as Sai and Naruto took guard around them.

The attack was straightforward, if not mediocre. The bandits simply charged at them, four from the front, four from the back; The other one quietly waiting in the shadows. Sai quickly engaged three of them. There was no need for justu, no need for anything flashy. They were simple bandits. Academy dropouts at best, just plain stupid at worst. Probably assuming that three ninja traveling with a civilian must have something valuable.

Of course, Naruto being Naruto, went overboard. It was simply his style. As such, he produced a few shadow clones to help him.

One bandit, perhaps the bravest, maybe the strongest, decided to try his luck with the kunoichi guarding "the prize." He ran towards Sakura, launching misguided shuriken in front of him as he came. Sakura smirked devilishly. It was her moment. She charged her fist with chakra, much more than she needed.

WHAM!

Sai landed a well aimed kick to the brigand's ribs, breaking at least two and knocking him out of Sakura's range. He flashed her a fake smile before spinning around to take out another offender.

She growled in frustration and resisted the urge to break the ground open with her fist. There was one left. One left, and he was coming at her. She took off toward him, fist still charged with chakra. She was really going to enjoy this.

THUD!

The man dropped to the ground to reveal a still smiling Sai standing behind him. He had delivered a devastating blow to the man's back.

"What the hell Sai!" Sakura screamed, venting her frustration right then and there. She hadn't gotten a single hit in, and all the guys were currently down. "_That_ was my guy," she pointed at the man currently laying face down in the dirt. "And _that_ was my guy!" she pointed to other man, who most definitely had broken ribs.

The artist-nin cocked his head, smile fading from his face, but did not speak.

"You did that on purpose!" she was still screaming, "You knew I was about to take them down!"

"I was protecting you," he said simply, smile returning.

"I don't need protecting," she spat out.

Naruto hedged closer, daring to rest a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay Sakura-chan, you can kick one of em."

The pink haired kunoichi huffed, she was not going to kick any of these men while they were down. She just didn't have it in her to harm them if they weren't threatening her. And none of them looked very threatening now. Naruto had put them in a nice little pile while she was ranting. "Let's just go," she said, clearly crestfallen. They were nearing their destination now, if they hurried, they could be there in half a day.

Sakura fell to the back again, feeling quite embarrassed about her outburst now. What must Isamu-san think of her, complaining that she didn't get to kick anyone's head in?

"You know, where I'm from, men protect the ones they love."

Sakura looked up to see Isamu-san walking beside her. "I… I'm sorry about my outburst Isamu-san. It was very unprofessional. I hope you don't think badly of me."

He smiled softly, and she noticed, perhaps for the first time, that he wasn't all that bad. He was an older man, probably in his fifties. He sported a long grey ponytail on the back of his head. His face was weathered, and reflected years of expression. Probably frowning over documents, she thought, noting the wrinkles in his forehead. "It's quite alright," he finally responded, "I can see that you're quite fiery." He chuckled, "You remind me of my daughter."

She smiled in reply, before her face fell into a frown, "And Sai, he's… he's not like that."

She expected Isamu-san to be confused, but he wasn't. He was more confident than ever, "He cares for you. I can see it in the way he looks at you."

Sakura's lips twitched slightly. Sai never looked at anyone any_way_. He simply looked. His eyes held no expression. No care, no confusion, no anything. Either the old man was seeing something no one else had, or he was seeing something that wasn't there. In any case, she decided not to argue. "Maybe," she said noncommittally.

Isamu-san simply smiled and they completed their journey in silence.

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><p>The trip back was much more enjoyable. And faster. Isamu-san had insisted they stay and have ramen with him and his grandson before returning home. Naruto was, of course, thrilled, and had (upon Sakura's warning glare) only eaten seven bowls.<p>

Sakura still had not spoken to Sai, and he had said little to her. Naruto was attempting not to crack under the tension, and suggested they take a break. They were, after all, already halfway home.

The medic-nin had jumped on the chance. She was tired, but she would never_ever_ admit it. Certainly not in front of Sai.

No sooner had they stopped, than Sakura stalked over to Sai, and without warning, punched him. Very hard.

Naruto winced, he certainly knew what that felt like. If he had a ryo for every time he had been on the receiving end of Sakura's punches he could buy a lot of ramen. Well, at least they were addressing the problem.

Sai groaned and fell to his knees, clutching his arm. He was pretty sure she had just snapped his humerus in two. "Why the hell are you so intent on _protecting_ me all of a sudden?" It wasn't as if he hadn't protected her before. Sai had always had Sakura's back, as any good teammate would. He had, in fact, saved her butt on more than one occasion. It was just that he had never been so… proactive. And here she was, back in the field. Did he think she was helpless? Weak?

"You need protecting," he said simply, his voice not betraying the pain he should've been in.

"I do not!"

He nodded, clearly in disagreement with her, "You are a girl." He seemed to think this was a good enough reason.

She charged her fist up with chakra again. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto stepped between the two, against his better judgement. "I'm sure what Sai means is… he was just trying to help."

Sai nodded again, and Naruto grinned, trying to ease the discomfort. Sakura rolled her eyes, trying to dispel the anger she still felt toward her pale teammate.

"Move Naruto," she commanded, shoving him aside. She knelt down and proceeded to heal the artist's arm. She was still angry, yes, but she was first and foremost a medic. And besides, if she needed to punch him again later, she wanted a fresh arm.

"I thought women liked being protected?" It was more of a question than anything.

The medic-nin sighed, "Is that what this is about?"

Sai simply smiled, perhaps she would be nicer to him now.

"Why don't you go protect Ino."

Sai frowned, "Ino does not need protecting."

Sakura's grip on Sai's arm tightened as she ground her teeth together slowly, attempting to contain her anger, lest she have to start her healing job all over.

The ink user simply smiled. He wanted to tell her that he did not _want_ to protect Ino, he wanted to protect her. But he also wanted to protect his arm, so he decided against speaking for the rest of the journey home.

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><p><em><strong>I was completely thrilled and tickled pink at everyone who reviewed, alerted, etc. I thank each and every one of you and appreciate it more than you could know. I now fully understand the impact of a review, even if it's short and sweet, it's a great thing. <strong>_

_**Thanks to my reviewers:**_

_**LunarLemur**_

_**Serenity-Touched**_

_**Random Blathering**_

_**pure epicness1**_

_**Kunoichi Uchiha Sakura**_

…_**and anyone else I might've missed between then and now.**_

_**You're all awesome!**_

…_**Next Chapter…**_

_**Sai tries to be sexy! And Neji makes an appearance? **_

_**Next one should be out soon, it's mostly finished! YAY! **_


	3. Sexy Man

**This chapter got away from me a bit. I had written about 3/4's of it (or what _was_ 3/4) and then the last bit proved to be (infuriatingly) difficult. I'll explain at the end though. I don't wanna confuse you with my rant when you have no idea what I'm talking about. **

**So onward!**

**Enjoy!**

**Also, I think my chapters are getting longer? I hope no one is complaining though :D**

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><p><strong><span>Qualities<span>  
><strong>

Ch. 3: _Sexy Man_

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><p>Hyuuga Neji was a prodigy, a genius. But for all his intelligence, he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why Sai was following him around. It had started a couple of days ago, when Neji was released from the hospital. He was restricted to the village for a full month after a nasty solo mission gone wrong. It was then that Sai had taken to accompanying him. Uninvited. Everywhere.<p>

At first, he had tried ignoring the artist-nin, but Sai made himself very difficult to ignore. He had asked the Hyuuga prodigy a plethora of questions. None of which he answered, but Sai hardly seemed to mind.

He had tried sending Tenten pleading messages with his eyes as they happened upon her. She had only laughed at the frustrated Hyuuga, patted his arm (condescendingly), and trotted off, claiming she was very busy. Neji was certain she was lying.

So at last, he tried the direct approach. "Why are you following me?"

The ink user cocked his head, as he did so often when he did not understand something, "Are we not _friends_?"

"Well… we…" he paused. _Were_ they friends? He didn't think so. He had been on a mission with the ex ROOT member only once. He hardly saw the guy. Oh yes, he had punched him once, when the artist asked Hinata if he could draw her. Sai had stoically taken the punch and simply turned his attention to Tenten. And hadn't that gone over well? No, he was sure they weren't friends. In the end, he decided to finish his sentence with a "Hn."

Sai smiled, he was sure that he had not been rejected.

And so, Sai continued to follow the Hyuuga around. Neji tolerated it (he had, after all, tolerated Lee all these years). He even ventured so far as to engage in light conversation with the artist, although it was mostly monosyllabic on his end.

Nothing, however, could have prepared him for Sai's confession.

"I am going to ask Sakura to have sex with me."

Neji choked slightly, "Wha-… why… I don't want to know this." He sped up his walk. If only he could get back to the Hyuuga compound. Curse his injuries. Sakura would kill him if he exerted himself so soon.

Sai easily kept up with him, "But we are friends," he said, as if that explained him divulging such information.

Neji couldn't help but smirk slightly. Sai was so going to get his ass kicked when he said that to Sakura. Still, something was nagging a bit at the prodigy. Since when did Sai have those types of emotions? He knew of the odd ninja's past, and was certain he was still a ways from experiencing such strong feelings. "Are you and Haruno in a relationship?" the words tumbled out, even as he willed them to stop. He could not believe he was engaging in this conversation.

Sai nodded, fake smile still present on his face. "We are teammates, and friends."

Neji mentally face palmed, "I meant a _romantic_ relationship."

Sai pondered this for a moment, "I don't think Sakura is very romantic."

Neji mentally face palmed, again. Was Lee this annoying? He didn't think so. He actually wished the exuberant mini green beast would show up and end this nightmare of a conversation. "Are you and Haruno _involved_?"

"Involved in what?"

Okay, Neji _actually_ face palmed this time. He had no tolerance for such annoyance. Where was Lee when you needed him? He sighed heavily, he was in the middle of it now, he may as well follow through. "Why are you going to ask Haruno… that?"

Sai smiled again, seemingly proud of himself, "Because women like sexy men."

Neji frowned, "Sexy… what?"

"Sexy men."

The Hyuuga growled in frustration, "I heard you. But what the hell are you talking about?"

"I read in a book that women like sexy men. So I am going to ask Sakura to have sex with me."

Neji would've laughed at this point, if he wasn't Neji. Instead, he settled for a smug smile. One side of him, the pissed off side that wanted to _un_-have this conversation, thought about leaving it at that. Let Sai say something stupid to Sakura and end up in the hospital. He didn't care. The other half, well, quarter, had the tiniest bit of pity for him.

Damn his good quarter.

"Sexy doesn't mean… have sex," he coughed slightly at the last bit. Hyuuga's didn't speak of such things… in public.

The pale artist-nin cocked his head and Neji imagined something like confusion in his eyes. But it was just his imagination. "It doesn't?"

Just then, Neji spotted Tenten perusing a nearby shop. Payback was indeed fulfilling. "Tenten is an expert," he said with the utmost seriousness. "She will be happy to explain," he finished, when she was within earshot.

"Explain what?" she questioned.

"I wish to know what sexy is," Sai offered, "Neji-san said you were an expert."

"What? NEJI!"

But the Hyuuga prodigy was gone. He had darted off as fast as he could, and he was willing to accept the consequences.

* * *

><p>In the end, the weapons mistress agreed to help Sai. She simply couldn't resist him. She had dealt with Lee for so long that it was hardly a bother. And didn't he deserve girl advice from a girl? They had decided to discuss the matter over lunch.<p>

"So why do you wanna know?" she questioned, taking a bite of her spicy noodles.

Sai's face twitched in something like displeasure as he tasted what Tenten had ordered for him. "I wish to be sexy."

Tenten snorted, trying to contain her laughter, "Why?"

"Because women like sexy men," he said the line as if quoting it from his book.

She smirked knowingly, "So there's someone you have your eye on, eh?"

"I have both of my eyes on you," he replied in a monotone, staring at her.

Tenten blanched as she stared back. "You… mean that literally don't you?"

Sai looked confused, was there any other way? The kunoichi waved her hand to dispel the confusion, "Who is it you want to be sexy for?"

"Sakura."

Tenten nodded slowly, she could've guessed. "I'll help you, but… it may take some work." She stared at him thoughtfully. He was good looking, there was no doubt about that. He was no Neji, but he was handsome enough. He was muscular and toned. He had grown quite tall, and she supposed if he tried hard, he could sound sexy. This definitely called for an all night chick flick movie marathon. He could learn by example.

Sai seemed pleased as he continued to eat his spicy noodles, all the while his face twitching in displeasure.

* * *

><p>"So?"<p>

Sai looked thoughtful as he glanced down at his notes, "I am adequately prepared."

Tenten didn't look convinced, "So what have you learned?"

"In order to be sexy, I must: remove my shirt whenever possible, show off my muscles, speak in a low, _sexy_ voice, and have facial spasms." He demonstrated by winking at her.

The kunoichi laughed, she couldn't resist seeing this play out. Unlike Neji, she was certainly in touch with her darker side. And that side wanted to see what happened with Sai's newfound knowledge. "I think you're ready."

In actuality, he was most likely not ready, but one could only do so much to help Sai.

* * *

><p>Tenten arranged for Team Guy to train with Team Kakashi (Who should've been renamed Team Yamato by now, since Kakashi was acquiring a new genin team. He decided he rather enjoyed pestering the ninja-wannabe-brats. Being a sensei was hardly tough work, and it afforded a lot of time to read porn. And hadn't he fought in enough wars? Besides, he wasn't getting any younger and maybe if he was lucky he wouldn't get a psychopath, and junchuuriki, and a love obsessed pink-haired girl this time). She had claimed that she would feel much better if Sakura supervised Neji's training. While that was partially true (he did have a tendency to overdo it while he was still recovering), she mostly just wanted to see Sai's attempt to act sexy.<p>

"Sakura, my youthful cherry blossom!" Lee gushed as he saw his favorite pink haired ninja enter the training grounds, "How I've missed you!"

She backed away slightly and held up a hand, palm facing him, "I just saw you forty-minutes ago at the hospital, Lee."

The green-clad ninja simply grinned and struck a pose, his teeth glinting in the sunlight.

Yamato (who had not been warned that they would be accompanied by an overzealous jonin and his team) only had time to look slightly confused before a larger green-clad ninja descended upon him. "Yamato-san! Please accept my challenge to spar so that we may display our youthful vigor for the young ninja of Konoha!" He too, struck a pose, looking not unlike a certain student of his.

Yamato grimly accepted his fate, but not before fixing a very sheepish looking Sakura with a glare.

Lee, eager to emulate his sensei spluttered with excitement, "I challenge…" he glanced around hurriedly before letting his gaze settle on Naruto, "...you! We will-"

"Bring it on bushy brows!" Naruto quickly cut him off, along with his rant about youthful nonsense.

And so, Guy-sensei and his mini-me (Who was shouting for Sakura to come witness his victory), along with Yamato and Naruto left to another training ground, evidently needing room for their 'epic' battles (And Lee most likely wanting to show off for his sensei). This left Sakura, Sai, Tenten, and Neji.

Tenten was smirking uncontrollably while Neji looked positively put out. He did _not_ need to be supervised, and Kami knows he did _not_ need to spend any _more_ time around Sai.

"Well… we should just take it easy," Sakura began, gesturing slightly towards Neji.

The prodigy grunted in disagreement. He did not like being coddled. Instead, he offered to spar with Sai. He was, secretly, a little bit curious as to what Tenten had taught him. And that was the only reason he did so. He wasn't helping. Definitely not.

Tenten sent the Hyuuga prodigy one more pleading glance, reminding him of their earlier conversation.

_"When Sai takes his shirt off, you do it too. That way he won't look so out of place." _

_"No." _

_"Come on Neji, aren't you going to help?"_

_"No." _

_"Please?"_

_"No." _

_"But you made me spend the entire evening preparing him for this."_

_"No."_

_"I'll-"_

_"No." _

_She sighed dejectedly, "That's rude," she muttered. _

He discretely shook his head in the negative before striding off after the artist-nin.

Tenten didn't want Sakura to miss anything Sai did, so she suggested that they just watch the boys. So that Sakura could make sure Neji wasn't overdoing it, she reasoned.

They were taking it easy, so it was more than a little boring to watch. Tenten might've enjoyed watching paint dry more if Neji hadn't been involved. As it were, she didn't mind watching him spar with the grace and fluidity only a Hyuuga could display.

Sakura was watching with a more critical eye. Most likely the eyes of a medic. This frustrated Tenten a little bit and it didn't help that the boys were being less than impressive. She doubted if Sakura was even _watching_ Sai.

So imagine her surprise when in one swift yank, off came Hyuuga Neji's shirt (He still wasn't helping). The weapons mistress' eyes shot open a little wider and her jaw dropped.

Neji was gorgeous.

But more importantly, Neji had just taken his shirt off. And he wasn't bleeding, or about to shower, or… being forced at kunai-point. I mean, yeah she had seen him that way before, but one never got used to the Hyuuga's exposed chest.

And he was smirking, she was sure of it. That pompous bastard.

She wanted to look at Sakura but she couldn't pull her eyes away from Neji's exposed body. The way his muscles moved as he moved; Blocking, punching, turning, kicking.

Even better, in what must've been a miracle, or a rare lapse in what could be considered 'Sai-ness,' said ninja took the hint and yanked off his half-a-shirt. Tenten certainly felt more girly than she had in sometime as she watched to two dance and spar, their muscles taught with exertion and glistening with sweat.

She did manage to spare a glance at Sakura now, only to see the medic-nin's eyes narrowed critically. "What's that about?" the question must have been directed at Tenten.

"Uhm, I guess they're hot." _In more ways than one_, she couldn't help thinking. She knew it was a stupid excuse, but what else did she have?

"That's probably enough, Neji!" Sakura called out to him, always the medic.

The two stepped back, breaking apart, and Neji nodded. He strode toward Tenten, not bothering to pick up his stray article of clothing.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Haruno-san." He then directed his attention to Tenten, "Katas," he said simply, pointing towards to open training area.

Sai, who was used to having his midsection exposed, felt oddly… exposed, and not very sexy. But what did it feel like to feel sexy? He wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure he didn't feel it. He was just getting started though. Take off shirt, check.

"Shall we practice katas as well?" he asked, joining Sakura.

She shrugged, "Yeah, but put your shirt on… not that it covers much."

"But how will I show off my muscles?"

Sakura suffered back a snort of laughter, instead narrowing her eyes in a glare, "Fine, whatever, keep it off then." It was then that she decided she would discretely appraise Sai's body as he began to go through katas on her right side.

She wasn't entirely disappointed. Well, to be fair, Sai had what most other shinobi had. Lean bodies, with long corded muscles; Fluid, controlled movement that displayed those muscles in a particularly delicious way; And in Sai's case, pale, porcelain skin stretched over those muscles.

Show off muscles, check.

Sakura's not-so-discreet glances in the artist's direction did not go unnoticed by him. What he particularly noticed was that her katas left a lot to be desired.

"You are not very fluid and you are lacking focus."

The pink-haired ninja huffed, trying to continue her movement, "Mind your own business, Sai."

He circled her, eyeing her critically, "Your stance is off as well." She rolled her eyes when he was behind her and couldn't see. "Let me help you," came the ink users voice from behind her, specifically very near her right ear. It was low and husky and… very un-Sai-like.

Speak in a low, sexy voice, check.

Sakura's ear tingled against her will as the ink user's breath fanned across her neck. Kami, she didn't even know he could sound that way. "Spread your legs a little wider," he continued in his new tone, scooting her feet into the proper position from behind, "And settle your weight over your heels." Sakura could feel the warmth of his body on her back and it was producing very unwanted feelings in her stomach, and she was sure this couldn't be Sai, and dammit if he didn't stop talking to her like that!

She quickly jumped forward away from him, "I've got it, Sai," she meant to yell, but it came out rather pitifully. Sakura's inner voice (who had long since been beaten into submission and locked into a dark closet in her mind) was screaming at her that this guy standing behind her was, indeed, _very_ sexy. But that just didn't go together with the picture of clueless Sai the rest of her brain was desperately clinging to.

Sai frowned imperceptibly, had he done something wrong? He was almost certain the women in the movies didn't behave as though someone had sent a lightening jutsu through their body. And Sakura looked clearly distressed, he could tell that much.

"Sakura, why is your face red?"

"Shut up, Sai!"

Tenten, who was trying desperately to watch, but also trying desperately to not mess up and anger the Hyuuga who was watching her, considered that a small victory. She shot the artist-nin a thumbs up. Surely he understood that, he _did_ hang around Naruto a lot.

"Don't encourage him," Neji deadpanned.

"And what exactly is it that _you_ were doing?"

"Hn."

Tenten smirked and winked at Sai, egging him on.

That reminded him, he still needed to perform his facial spasm.

"Sakura," he said, placing his hand gently on her shoulder as he had seen the men in the movies do.

She slowly raked her eyes up his chest to look him in the face. She was met with a very large, very fake smile. It was then that he winked in a stiff, exaggerated manner that did, in fact, resemble a facial spasm.

Sakura giggled, she actually giggled. What else could she do? Her emotionally stunted, pale faced teammate had winked at her.

Sai cocked his head, unsure of why she was laughing. But then he realized… she was laughing. _He_ had made her laugh. He was trying to be sexy, but instead had managed to be somehow funny. And he couldn't help but smile, a very small, very real smile.

* * *

><p><strong>Man that ending was tough! I started writing several different endings, and wasn't happy with any of them and then I just sort of wrote myself in this direction and I was finally pleased with the outcome! It makes me go aww! <strong>

**Alright, so I was essentially torn on this chapter. Did I want to make Sai be awkward in his attempted sexiness (as he has in previous chapters)? Did I want to make him anger Sakura? Did I want to let him be (accidentally) sexy?**

**And so I had to make a choice. I had thought of several humorous scenarios that ultimately ended in Sai's failure and Sakura being confused/angry at his antics. But In the end I tried to strike a balance between all of the above. I decided that for some development to happen (On Sakura's end), she needed to start seeing her teammate in a different light. I also felt that she would initially reject such feelings and notions, most likely covering them up with her controlling, (and sometimes violent) personality. **

**Basically, I let the Sai in my head be the target I was aiming for. He goes something like this: He's kind of accidentally cute, sexy, sweet, whatever (he's sort of slightly successful, but still blundering, endearing Sai).. and then he opens his mouth and says something very blunt and Sai-like and ruins the moment. And the cycle begins again. So that's what I was going for and I really _really _hope I did this chapter justice because it _was_ the sexy Sai chapter. Hopefully you weren't _too_ disappointed. **

**Also, Neji is in this chapter quite a bit. I love Neji and that just needs to be said. However, he may be a bit OOC (you're thinking _a little?) _But it was my first time writing him and I just wanted to have fun with him. I mean, who doesn't think Neji face palming is funny? I giggle uncontrollably at it… But anyways… Chalk it up to Neji getting a bad head injury, or character development. Either or… or both might be in order.**

**Enough ranting.**

**~Big thanks to my reviewers!~**

**Liatris-san**

**LunarLemur**

**Kunoichi Uchiha Sakura**

**pure epicness1**

**TheBlackRose123**

**serenity-touched**

**You're awesome! I appreciate it! Feel free to let me know what you liked, what you didn't like. What you thought was funny, what was corny. What made you go aww and what made you go meh. I like to hear from you! **

…**_Next Chapter…_**

_**Sai's feelings get revealed to… someone? Gasp, oh my gosh! I don't know who it is either… **_

**(I'll try to get this out by Christmas, if I'm not distracted by Christmas-ey things!) **


	4. Sensitive Man

**(Belated) Merry Christmas to everyone! And Boxing day too! **

**I apologize, this is not the most epic chapter ever, but enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Qualities<strong>

Ch. 4: _Sensitive Man_

* * *

><p>If there was one thing Sai was good at, it was compartmentalizing. He had his ROOT training to thank for that, or perhaps his mind just naturally lent itself to such behavior. In any case, it came as easy as breathing for the artist-nin. No matter the time, place, or subject, he could effectively set aside his thoughts and feelings as the situation called for. Thoughts of Sakura were no different.<p>

Of course, when the situation was conducive, he could easily allow his mind to wander to less pressing matters.

Currently, the situation was of the latter variety. On the way home from a lengthy mission (that did not include Sakura) that lasted the better part of two weeks, Sai had plenty of time to think about his pink-haired teammate. He thought of how he had felt the strangest feeling whenever she smiled because of him. He thought about how she acted so strangely when he attempted to be sexy. Perhaps she did not find him attractive? He thought about how Shikamaru was right, women _were_ troublesome.

He also wondered if his book contained faulty information. It did not seem as though he had been successful thus far and it bothered him.

He felt… he felt…

It was like that feeling he got when he failed a mission. That feeling that he hated. Failure. Disappointment. Frustration. Confusion.

It was certainly a bad feeling, the opposite of how he felt when Sakura smiled.

Well, she had smiled at him (and not punched him). Perhaps his book was right after all.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Sakura had decided to studiously ignore any thoughts of her dark haired teammate.<p>

She failed magnificently and instead had been all but brooding over him. She didn't know what had happened between them but it certainly made her feel… awkward. Well, more awkward than Sai normally made her feel. Sai, of course, seemed oblivious which made her even more mad. It was like she wanted to punch him and kiss him at the same time.

Kiss him? No, she definitely didn't mean that. She meant, make him kiss the ground. Yeah.

She would just have to forget it; Chalk it up to Sai being Sai. He did have a tendency to do weird things, all in the name of being more normal. This was just another one of those things. And besides, it wasn't like he was any different. He was still stupid, clueless Sai. And he was most definitely _not_ super hot, sexy, kind-of-sweet-when-he's-weird, Sai.

Nope.

* * *

><p>Sakura had a habit of checking over her teammates following a mission. Oh, they would protest and claim they were okay, but the medic-nin would have none of it. They all got checked out. Period. It typically didn't bother her and she <em>did<em> like to make sure her teammates were alright. Today, however, was an exception. Sai was being particularly annoying. And not particularly attractive, which was kind of a relief.

"Ow," came a deadpan voice.

"Does that hurt?" she questioned, probing his shoulder again, "I barely touched you."

The ink user nodded, "Ow," came his monotone again.

Sakura frowned, that was certainly unusual. Shinobi had extremely high pain thresholds, and here was Sai, largely uninjured, 'owing' at the slightest touch.

"Does this hurt?" she questioned, experimentally poking him in his other shoulder.

"Ow."

"Knock it off, Sai. I'm not playing," she punched him the shoulder she was previously prodding.

"Ow."

Sakura leveled a glare at him, "What are you doing?"

"I'm being sensitive," he said helpfully.

"Oh, good. _Stop it_. It's annoying and childish." She turned to Naruto who was sitting on the other cot in the room, "Now, what flavor lollipop would you like?"

"Orange!" he proclaimed, jumping up from his seated position.

"Of course," she rolled her eyes and threw him an orange sucker, musing to herself how he was kind of an orange sucker. "Sai?" she questioned, holding the jar of lollipops out to him.

"What's wrong with being sensitive?" he questioned.

"Sai, there are many types of sensitive. I think you might be after a different kind."

The ink user considered this for a moment before reaching into the jar and plucking a cherry sucker out. This most definitely warranted more research.

* * *

><p>As it turned out, there were five kinds of sensitive, according to the Konoha dictionary.<p>

There was the easily stimulated kind, but he had already tried that. And hadn't that gotten him punched?

There was the classified information kind, but he was pretty sure that wasn't right. If past events held true, Sakura did not like having information withheld from her.

The last three were up for debate, however. A good deal of research was required before the artist-nin settled on the proper type of sensitive.

It was armed with this information that Sai knocked on Kakashi's door on his ninja-wannabe-brats' day off.

"Go away," came a voice from inside.

"It's Sai."

"Oh, ok… go away."

"I need your assistance."

That wasn't as reassuring as Sai might've imagined. Most people that knew him wanted to bolt when he needed help or advice. It could only have awkward consequences. "I'm busy," Kakashi said, after a few moments pause.

"Kakashi-senpai, I am asking for your help."

The door creaked open to reveal a tired looking Kakashi in sweatpants and a t-shirt/mask combo. He had nothing covering his Sharingan, but it was closed, and his hair flopped lazily over his face without his headband to hold it up. "Come in," he gestured, stepping aside to make room.

"Thank you Kakashi-senpai."

"Yeah, yeah, what do you want?" He moved to the kitchen to make tea.

"I would like you to teach me how to be sensitive…but not the annoying kind," he quickly added, recalling Sakura's earlier words.

At this point, most would've asked why he wanted to learn such a thing (or what the hell he was talking about), but not Kakashi. "Why are you asking _me_?"

"I have seen you cry over a potted plant."

"Mr. Ukki was very special," Kakashi defended.

Sai merely stared at him as if he had made his point. Which he did.

Kakashi sighed, he knew when he was defeated. "Why are you asking?"

"I wish to be more sensitive."

The copy-nin nodded slowly, "Okay… why?"

"Because women like sensitive men."

The silver haired man narrowed his eyes, well, eye, at the younger ninja, "You read that?"

Sai nodded, smiling quite largely now.

"Who is it you're trying to impress?"

"Sakura."

Kakashi chuckled, thinking of his pink-haired student. He was sure this wasn't going to go over well with her. She already had an affinity for physically punishing the artist whenever he said the wrong thing. The thought of them in a relationship was more than amusing. He said nothing, instead preparing and serving the tea to Sai, who was still standing awkwardly in the room between the door and kitchen. He motioned for the ink user to sit down across from him.

"And why are you trying to impress Sakura?" he probed.

Sai stared into his tea, searching his brain for the correct response. "We are compatible," he stated at last.

This prompted more chuckling from the copy ninja, "Compatible?"

Sai nodded, more sure of himself now, "Sakura is a strong and capable kunoichi, and she is most willing to put up with my weaknesses."

Kakashi considered this for a moment. Sure, Sai and Sakura _could_ make a cute couple, but that wasn't for him to decide. Nor was it for him to even concern himself with. What did concern him however, was the way in which Sai was approaching such an issue. Very clinically, and very Sai like. "Do you have feelings for Sakura?"

The artist considered this for a moment, "I feel that we are compatible."

Kakashi stood up from his chair, "Well, I'm not going to help you then."

"I do not understand."

"Unless you can tell me that you honestly have feelings for Sakura, and know what you're talking about, then I'm not going to help you. Sakura has had enough trouble in the relationship department without me aiding your pursuit of her when you don't even possess any romantic feelings towards her."

"I do not know what that feels like."

"Tough. Come back when you do," and with that, he ushered the confused ninja out the door.

He definitely needed more research.

* * *

><p>It was common knowledge in Konoha that Hyuuga Hinata had very strong feelings for a certain knuckleheaded ninja. Even said knucklehead was, at last, aware. It was for this reason that Sai sought the Hyuuga heiress out in an effort to obtain some field research.<p>

He was armed with a scroll and writing utensil as he began firing questions at the nervous girl. "How long have you had feelings for Naruto?"

"Uhm… since we were in the academy I guess."

"What kind of feelings do you have toward him?"

"I-I _like_ Naruto-kun," she shifted nervously, a slight blush dusting her cheeks.

"What do you like about him?"

"…everything?" Her blush deepened now. Hinata was certainly not the same nervous genin she used to be. But she was, and probably always would be, the type of person who was nervous when such undivided attention was placed on her. As such, she still had a tendency to blush and stutter at times.

Sai felt something like frustration bubbling at the edges of his mind. He was getting nowhere with the Hyuuga heiress. Why couldn't she just tell him what he needed to know? "How do you know you have feelings for him?"

"I… j-just do."

Perhaps if she wasn't Hinata, she would've inquired as to why he was asking such questions. And perhaps she could've helped him. But she was Hinata, and so she didn't.

That would always be, in Sai's opinion, the most useless conversation slash interrogation he had ever participated in.

* * *

><p>Deciding that Ino, with her infinite string of boyfriends, must know what having <em>feelings<em> feels like, he decided to seek her advice next.

When he knocked on her door, she all but pulled him inside, "Sai, what brings you here?" she purred.

"I need your assistance," he said stiffly, standing right inside her door.

"I'll help you with _anything_ you want," she said slowly, raking her hands down his chest appreciatively.

"I need to know what it's like to have feelings."

The blonde frowned, "What kind of feelings, Sai?"

The ink user thought for a moment, trying to remember what Kakashi-senpai had said, "Romantic feelings."

She snorted, flirty ruse dropped in an instant, "I get it, this is about forehead, isn't it? She said you had been acting strange lately." She dragged him over to the couch and pushed him down, commanding him to sit. "Look," she began, hands on her hips, standing over him, "If you like Sakura, just take her out."

Sai cocked his head, "Take her… _out_? But I do not wish to kill her."

Ino blinked twice and muttered something along the lines of him not being _that_ hot. "On. A. Date."

"A date?" he questioned aloud, simultaneously scanning his mind for information on the subject.

In the next second, Ino lit up like a Christmas tree, "I'll do it!"

"Do what?" Sai was remembering why he didn't like conversing with the blonde kunoichi. He simply couldn't keep up.

"I'll do it, I'll help you."

"With feelings?"

"No," she said, waving a hand at him, "I'll help you with asking billboard brow on a date."

"I requested help with feelings," he pointed out, "Why can't you help me with that?"

_Because this will be more fun_. "Because everyone experiences those types of things differently, Sai. I can't just _tell_ you what it feels like. Besides, if you take on her a date, then you'll know."

"I will?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded absentmindedly, the wheels in her pretty blonde head already turning at a rapid pace. "Okay," she began, "For now we'll just work on you asking her. If she says yes, then we'll work on your… image," she said the last word distastefully. No doubt she was eyeing his choice of clothing.

* * *

><p>"See? I told you she would be here, training on her day off. She should be getting her nails done, have you seen them? Ew!" she pulled a face and pretended to gag.<p>

Sai was unfazed.

"Alright, are you ready?" The pretty blonde kunoichi questioned.

Sai nodded slowly. It was then that Ino seriously considered using her mind transfer jutsu to save Sai from his inevitable screw up. It was also then that she had the startling realization that it could have some very useful social consequences. Perhaps later she would use her family jutsu on Shikamaru and have him-

"Ino?"

"Hmm? Okay, do it like we practiced," she instructed, "I'll be over here." She took her place in the bushes, some ways away from where her pink-haired friend was training.

And so, putting hours of tedious instruction to use, Sai strode over to where Sakura was throwing kunai at a tree and spoke, "Sakura, can I take you out?" he smiled widely, "… on a date." Good save, it would be horribly embarrassing if Sakura thought he wanted to kill her.

Nearby, Ino buried her head in her hands. That was _not_ what they practiced.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay! Fun stuff. And yes, a cliffhanger. I couldn't resist. It was not my original intention to have the chapters so interrelated, but it's just happening so I stopped fighting it.<strong>

**I don't like how this chapter flows (or rather, doesn't). **

**Also, I'm sorry if Kakashi seems like an ass. He's not meant to, it's just my idea of a funny Kakashi-that's-not-a-main-character. **

**And, it's not that funny of a chapter. I needed to address some things and I struggled to get out of my 'serious' mood. So sorry.**

…_**Next Chapter…**_

_**What will Sakura say? What 'quality' will Sai attempt to portray next? **_

_**Oh the conjecture! **_

_**Drop me a line and let me know what you think will happen!**_

**~~~As usual! Big thanks to my reviewers! Much love to you (you know who you are)! I really do enjoy hearing from you!~~~**


	5. Well Dressed Man

_I couldn't leave all of my lovely readers hanging off the side of a cliff for too long, so here's the next chapter! _

_Also, this probably goes without saying, but that large block of italicized text down there represents time travel... I mean, it's a flashback. But you probably knew that. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong>Qualities<strong>

Ch. 5: _Well Dressed Man_

* * *

><p><em>"Okay, Sai. Pay close attention. This is the single most important piece of advice I'm going to give you. When you ask Sakura out: Do. Not. Smile." <em>

_"Why?" _

_"Because it's creepy," Ino shuddered slightly at the thought of it. _

_"But everyone loves smiles," Sai argued, painting his own upon his face. _

_She shuddered again, at the _sight_ of it. Okay, new tactic, "Because this is a serious matter." _

_"But smiles make everyone happy." _

_Ino took in a deep breath, "I'm the expert, Sai. Just do what I tell you." _

_Sai seemed to agree with this and looked down at his notes. _

1. No smiling.

_"Another thing, be confident. Girls like it when you ooze confidence. Make her think it's a privilege to go out with you." _

_"With her?"_

_"No, with _you_." _

_"With me?" _

_She sighed, "Yes. Confidence." _

2. Be confident.

_Sai settled his hands back in his lap and stared up at the blonde kunoichi, awaiting her next tip. _

_She gazed up at the ceiling, trying to conjure advice specifically tailored to the clueless ninja. "Don't be so blunt," she said at last, "Make small talk first. Ask her how she's doing, compliment her." _

3. Small talk, compliment.

_The ink user nodded, mulling over his notes so far. He didn't think this seemed too difficult. It hardly warranted such specific direction, in his opinion. _

_"Compliment me," Ino demanded. _

_Sai cocked his head slightly, "You are looking much less fat than the last time I saw you." _

_Ino blinked, "Try again." _

_"Your long, blonde hair is adequately distracting me from the bags under your eyes." _

_Her jaw clenched, "Try again." _

_"You are much more-" _

_"Stop," she ordered, holding a hand to his face, "Try a compliment without an insult." _

_Sai merely cocked his head. _

_"Okay, look, name something you like about Sakura." _

_"She can punch me." _

_Well, that certainly explained a lot. "Something about her looks." _

_Sai pondered for a moment, "I like the way she looks when she's busy working or training. She's always complaining about how awful her hair looks, but I like it." _

_Ino smiled softly, "Well then tell her that." _

_"I can't." _

_A perfect blonde eyebrow raised, "Why not?"_

_"She'll punch me."_

* * *

><p>Haruno Sakura prided herself on being the strong, brave, and level headed kunoichi she had become. It was simply, at the risk of sounding too much like the old Neji, a fate that befell most shinobi. She had stared death in the face on more than one occasion. She had met countless tragedies and experienced more than her share of hardship. She was calculating, logical, and she kept her head in the most dire of situations. That, she supposed, had come from being a medic-nin, and perhaps from being Tsunade's apprentice.<p>

But Sai, he seemed to shatter everything she had become. He had this ability, she reasoned, to bring the most elite of shinobi down to the bumbling idiots they all were somewhere inside. Neji had already experienced this phenomenon, and Naruto almost existed in such a state around the artist-nin. It was really a gift of sorts, something that could be valuable to a shinobi like him. He seemed to strike his victims dumb and then bend them to his will.

And so it was with Sakura. Almost.

She blinked rapidly, willing her brain function to return. She was certain Sai just asked her on a date, but that couldn't be right. Her mind was outright refusing to participate in this ludicrous situation. And now he was staring at her, smiling, waiting for a response.

She would've liked to claim she spat a dramatic "No" in his face without hesitation, but that simply wasn't the case.

Instead, she was frozen. Should she punch him? Should she say no? Should she _punch_ him?

Should she say yes?

No!

She should say no, and _then_ punch him.

Or maybe punch him and then say no.

She supposed she should've seen this coming. It was a natural stepping stone on the road to normalcy. She guessed she had just always assumed she would be giving him advice about such a task, instead of being on the receiving end of it. But perhaps it was normal he try out those closest to him, in order to get some experience. She supposed maybe it was natural.

But she was not going to participate. Certainly not.

"I don't think so," she said at last, and then promptly walked away to fetch her kunai out of the nearby tree. Perhaps if she hadn't been so dumbfounded she would've realized her friend was hiding in the bushes only a few meters away.

Sai was, at once, confused, if not entirely aware of it. He had never been in such a situation before. Sure, he had been indirectly rejected in countless ways, but never so bluntly. It wasn't as if he was hurt, at least he didn't think he was. He was just… confused. He didn't know what to do. Should he persist? Should he leave?

He glanced Ino's direction, willing her to help him in some way. A tan hand shot out of the bushes and beckoned him.

* * *

><p>"What the hell, Sai? That wasn't what we practiced! You did everything wrong!" she waved her hands around frantically to make her point.<p>

"I forgot."

She smirked slightly, "You were nervous?"

He gave a jerky shrug, as if it was a new action, "I don't know, I just forgot."

"Ah ha! You _were_ nervous. That's so cute."

Sai stared blankly at her, "What do I do now?"

"Up your game. You need to go the whole nine. We need to change your clothes, your hair, your… personality."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" he glanced down and fingered the end of his short shirt. If Sai could look offended, he did now.

"They're gay," she said offhandedly, "We need to go shopping!" She was tittering excitedly one second, and the next, she was completely deflated.

Yes, she was very hard for Sai to follow. "Aw, I have to leave on a mission tomorrow. Maybe you can get Hinata to help you?"

Yeah, because that worked out so great for him last time. No, he would _not_ be getting Hinata's help. He supposed though, that perhaps Ino was right, he did need to change his clothes. After all, his book did say women like well dressed men.

* * *

><p>"I see you're forehead is as large as ever," Ino commented as she sat down across from her pink-haired friend. It was their bi-monthly, 'If Sakura's not too busy for her dear friend Ino, we should get together,' meeting. Ino named it. Said meeting (read: Gossip exchange) was usually conducted in a small tea house that was near Sakura's home. That way Sakura wouldn't have to go out of her way, Ino had once commented. Although not in the nicest of ways.<p>

"And you're just as blonde as ever," Sakura remarked with an exasperated sigh.

"Everyone loves blondes," her friend quipped, flipping her long blonde hair for show.

"And you're just jealous of my forehead."

"You wish."

"So, how are things? Anyone new on the man-radar?" Ino had this thing she liked to call the "man-radar." Any guy who caught the blonde kunoichi's eye was said to be on the radar.

The list changed more often than her and Sakura met.

"Same old," she said sullenly. Well, it usually did.

"You're not back on Shika, are you?"

Ino simply made _a noise_ as she sipped her tea. "What about Sai? Is he still acting strange?" the blonde couldn't help but grin.

"Kami, yes! And just when I had gotten past his awkward little… whatever the hell it was. He asked me out, Ino. _Asked me out!" _

The blonde laughed melodically, "What did you say?"

"No, of course," she replied, as if it was obvious.

"Why?"

"Because… it's Sai," it sounded more like a question, even to Sakura.

Ino snorted in a manner that could only be described as un-lady-like, "So? Kami knows you could use a little fun."

"Please don't start, pig. You know I'm busy. Besides, it's not like he actually… you know, likes me. He's just experimenting or whatever."

A blonde eyebrow raised, "And how do you know this?"

"It's Sai."

"Is that the only excuse you have, forehead?"

"He's my teammate, I've known him a long time. I would know if he had suddenly sprouted feelings."

Ino leaned forward, a glint in her eye, "So if he really and truly liked you, you would go out with him?"

Sakura shot her friend a suspicious look, "I didn't say that."

"You implied it," the blonde leaned back in her chair, smirking. "Come on, Sakura, what's the worst that could happen?"

"It's Sai."

* * *

><p>"Whatcha reading'?" Naruto inquired, tilting his head like an inquisitive dog.<p>

"A book."

Naruto gasped, "Is that Icha Icha?" he asked, gaping at the small orange-covered book.

Sai stared up at his teammate showing him the cover, '_Dress To Impress'_.

"Oh," Naruto seemed a bit disappointed. Perhaps he had wanted to read Icha Icha. Maybe he just missed Kakashi.

"If you need help with that stuff, I can help!" he exclaimed, adopting a Lee-esque pose and putting his hands on his hips, "I'm the best dressed ninja in Konoha!" He gestured towards his famous orange outfit.

"I don't really like orange," Sai commented, already back to reading his book.

The kyuubi container looked only slightly put out, "It comes in other colors."

* * *

><p>It was with some hesitation that Sai had decided to approach Kiba with his fashion problem. For one, dogs didn't like him. That didn't make much sense to Sai, because he had no problem with the furry creatures, but Akamaru insisted on growling at him.<p>

And secondly, and most importantly, Kiba was his second choice. He really felt more inclined to Shino's sense of fashion, but frankly, the bug thing creeped him out. He would never, _ever_ admit this.

Still, it was better than Naruto or Hinata.

"I need your assistance," he stated, ignoring Akamaru's low growling.

Kiba grinned sheepishly, "He's just feeling a little off today," he patted his nin-dog on the head, trying to quiet him down. "What can I do for you?"

"Ino says there's something wrong with my clothes."

Kiba's grin widened to show off his canine teeth, "Ino does that."

"… and my hair."

The dog savvy ninja chuckled.

"… and my personality."

Kiba was having a good laugh now as Akamaru continued to bare his teeth at the peculiar ninja. "And what is it you want my help with, exactly?"

"My clothes," came the deadpanned reply.

"Tired of showing all that tummy?" Kiba teased. "Wait, you don't _like_ Ino, do you?"

Sai briefly made a face, the one he made when he first ate dango, like it tasted awful in his mouth. "I find Ino to be pushy, demanding, and tedious to converse with. She is not my favorite person."

Kiba looked slightly relieved. This was, in fact, for the most noble of reasons, as he felt that what little spirit Sai had would be crushed earnestly by Ino if they were to have a relationship. "So… why are you changing everything for her?"

He explained, in the fewest of words, that it wasn't for Ino, but Sakura. To which Kiba was still moderately confused. After the equivalent of a long story short, Kiba was adequately filled in. He suggested that Hinata might be a better choice since she was, in fact, a female.

Sai vehemently (Well, it was vehement for Sai) protested for reasons unknown to the dog friendly ninja.

In the end, he agreed to accompany Sai on a shopping trip. (Yes, he was secure in his man-hood). As long as they didn't _call_ it a 'Shopping trip.' (Well, almost.)

* * *

><p>"What about this?" Kiba suggested, gesturing to an overcoat of moderate length.<p>

"'_Dress To Impress'_ says that impressing women is about showing your stuff, without showing too much," Sai explained.

"Okay, what does that mean?"

"I do not know."

Kiba chuckled, "What else does it say?"

"Some things are better left to the imagination."

The Inuzuka boy grinned wolfishly, "I think I'm getting the picture. You've been showing too much," he gestured towards the ink users exposed midsection.

Sai nodded in agreement, "To impress women you must show off your attributes while hiding your flaws. If you do not have it, leave it to the woman's imagination." He sounded as if he was reading from a book at that very moment.

It was then that Kiba began regretting his part in this.

"What are my attributes?" the artist-nin cocked his head, looking at Kiba.

Okay, he was _really_ regretting it. "Er," he scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. Let's just look at clothes. What do you like?" He blurted his sentences out in a hurry and ran to the nearest piece of clothing. "How about this?"

* * *

><p>Kiba barely made it out alive. Barely.<p>

How could he not have realized how completely and utterly _awkward_ Sai was until now. Why didn't anyone warn him? Did he miss the memo? Maybe he was out on a mission at the time.

That would always be one of his lifelong regrets: Shopping with Sai.

He could only hope no one saw them. Thank _Kami_ Ino was out of the village right now. He really hoped he wasn't scarred for life. Maybe some therapy was in order.

He would have to ask Sakura.

He would've said Sai owed him, _big time_, but he really hoped it never came to that. Besides it wasn't really for Sai, it was for Sakura.

She was such a hardworking medic, she deserved a little happiness. And hadn't she saved him and his teammates lives on more than one occasion?

And Sai… Well, now he knew why Akamaru growled at him. That pup always did look out for him.

* * *

><p>Sakura had endured a particularly taxing day at the hospital. In addition to the mind-numbing mountain of hospital paperwork Tsunade dumped on her, she had a group of injured young genin come in. Some rookie thought it might be wise to show off his underdeveloped fire jutsu and had inadvertently scorched quite a few onlookers. Several of the interns had, for lack of a better word, freaked out at having such young children injured. Sakura had to calm them all down in addition to healing everyone. Needless to say, she just wanted to drag her sorry butt home and stare at the wall for a few hours before going to sleep. She wasn't so much physically exhausted as she was mentally drained.<p>

Far too mentally drained to deal with Naruto.

And far, far too tired to even look at Sai.

But there they were, standing outside of the hospital, waiting for her.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called as he waved his hands around wildly. As if she could miss his orange-clad body if she tried. And she was trying. "We waited for you! We're going to get some ramen. You _have_ to come."

Sakura, intent on ignoring the knuckleheaded ninja, was about to say something to Sai. After all, she hadn't spoken to him since he asked her out three days ago. Perhaps she was going to apologize, or maybe he'd get that long overdue punch, but instead she blurted out exactly what popped into her head.

"What are you wearing?" She stared, dumbfounded at the artist-nin. He was clad in a long sleeve, form fitting, black shirt. It had a collar a little higher than his usual ROOT jacket, and a zipper going a third of the way down the front. It was unzipped, revealing a mesh shirt. His pants were his usual black ones, although they looked a bit longer, more akin to his casual pants than his mission pair. Standard shinobi sandals finished off his new look.

He certainly didn't look _bad. _And surprisingly, he didn't look at all ridiculous.

"Sakura-chan! Ramen, are you coming?" Naruto wailed.

But the medic-nin wasn't listening, she was still awaiting Sai's answer.

"Clothes," the artist replied, tugging at the bottom of his over shirt. "They're new, do you like them?"

"Sakura-chan? Ichiraku?" the Kyuubi container interrupted. Again.

Sakura turned slowly, dangerously, toward the hyperactive ninja. "Yes, Naruto. I'll come. Please go ahead and order for me. I'll meet you there."

Naruto, who had instinctively thrown his arms up to shield his head, was surprised when his pink-haired teammate didn't abuse him. Being Naruto, he quickly overcame his shock, shouted something about ramen, and darted off toward Ichiraku.

She turned back toward Sai, who was still anxiously awaiting her answer. Not with a smile plastered on his face, but with something else.

Now, Sakura wasn't completely heartless. In fact, she had a lot of heart, it just didn't always manifest itself in the most appropriate manner. And when she looked into her dark-haired teammate's eyes, she saw reflected hope. Pure and candid hope. There was no mistaking it. After all, she fostered the necessary emotion where it hardly existed, day in and day out at the hospital. And there it was, shining through her emotionless teammate's eyes.

His eyes… there was something there, at last. And she could see it.

She smiled softly, "Yes, Sai. You look very nice." She touched his arm gently, enjoying the look of satisfaction on his face, "Although, I was finally getting used to seeing all that stomach."

The ink user's face slipped into a fake smile, "Did you like what you saw?"

The medic-nin glared. _Yes._ "You're pushing it, Sai," she said through gritted teeth.

And for once, Sai dropped it.

As they walked to Ichiraku (which Sakura was really regretting agreeing to), she couldn't help but think back on Ino's words:

_"So if he really and truly liked you, you would go out with him?" _

And a very small, almost completely ignored part of her, answered yes. Of course, she quickly locked this part of her away in the closet Inner Sakura was currently occupying.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Okay, brace yourself for an inordinate amount of notes...

First off: Kiba. Obviously I did not even begin to do Kiba justice. And to spare you a paragraph long rant on that subject, I'll move on :D

Bonus Shopping Scenes:

I had a couple of random shopping scenes in my head. Ultimately they just didn't fit, but I'll put them down here for your enjoyment.

* * *

><p><em>Sai had picked out several pieces of black clothing, leaving Kiba feeling the need to comment.<em>

_"I think you need some color," he suggested._

_"Black is a color." _

_"I think you need some _more _color. How about navy, it's pretty close to black." _

_"I do not wish to look like a young _Uchiha_," Sai almost spat the last word out in a very uncharacteristic display of something like disgust._

_Kiba's eyes opened a bit wider. Apparently that was a sore spot for the artist-nin. Who knew? "How about green?" _

_"I would very much like to stick to black."_

_"Grey?"_

_"Black." _

_Kiba shrugged. Why was he there again?_

* * *

><p><em>"Do these make my backside look disproportionately large?" Sai questioned, emerging with a pair of maybe-just-a-little-too-tight pants on.<em>

_Kiba shielded his eyes, "Please make it stop," he begged to no one in particular. _

_"Kiba?" Sai stepped closer, cocking his head, "Do these-"_

_"Yes!" the dog-savvy nin shrieked, "Yes, they do." _

_"How can you tell with your hands obstructing your vision? Is that a clan skill?" _

_"Yes," came the reply, "It's a dog thing."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Note to reviewers<strong>_: I do try to respond to all my reviews. If I haven't, it's either because I had a huge lapse in brain function, or because your messaging is disabled (I'm looking at you kunoichi uchiha sakura: But while I have the chance, I always enjoy your reviews immensely! It's good to know you share my sense of humor, and I'm thrilled you like the fic.)

**As usual, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, faved, or just plain read!**

And there was something else... but I forgot. Oh yes, big thanks if you guessed what Sakura was going to say. It was fun reading your guesses.

* * *

><p><em>* Shameless Plug /*_

If you haven't yet, I invite you to check out my Neji/Ten fic, _Balance,_ and let me know what you think. I'm currently working on Part 2.

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><p><em>...Next Chapter...<em>

_Stuff will happen... _


	6. Jealous Man  Part One

_Sorry for the wait (It feels like there's been one but I'm not one hundred percent sure). Anyways, excuses will follow._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Qualities<em>**

Ch. 6: _Jealous Man – Part One_

* * *

><p>It had been three weeks since Sakura's atrocious lack of judgement. The one that caused her to compliment Sai. Honestly, she didn't know what she was thinking. She decided to chalk it up to being tired that evening.<p>

Yes, that must've been it.

In any event, Sai had been relatively normal since then._ Relatively_, because normal for Sai is not normal for most. Sakura wondered if perhaps she had sated his desire to please women by complimenting him. Maybe he had finally given up on his quest to impress the fairer sex… or whatever it is he was doing. She still wasn't sure. For one could never be sure of Sai's motives.

Still, he _had_ been doing that annoying thing regarding his clothing. The thing where someone would ask if he was wearing new clothes, to which he would reply: "Yes, Sakura likes them."

Perhaps it wouldn't have been that bad, if he didn't tell _everyone._ Even when they didn't ask.

Oh, and he had gotten into some childish fight with Naruto wherein each argued that Sakura liked their outfit best.

They both lost… to Sakura's fists of fury.

Much to Kiba's dismay, it got out that he had went shopping with Sai. Once Ino got wind of it, (Which, not surprisingly, was almost immediately after she returned), it was all over. Kiba's hard earned reputation was effectively reduced to rubble in one fell swoop.

And everyone had a fantastic laugh at his expense. Even Hinata giggled. He _was _her teammate. Who went shopping. With Sai.

The older, more mature generation, did not laugh, but instead comforted Kiba. They told him that being gay was nothing to be ashamed of. After all, Kakashi still had a fierce reputation.

This prompted a vehement protest by Kiba and Kakashi, which they followed up by publicly proclaiming their sexual orientation to a quickly growing crowd. (It was, _not_ gay).

Oddly, Sai was overlooked in the gay fray. (A/N: Yes, I couldn't resist. It rhymes.) Perhaps people had already made up their minds about the pale artist.

So, really, it wasn't Sai who was attracting all the attention lately, it was the destruction he left in his wake.

* * *

><p>Sakura was beginning to loathe escort missions. It seemed that's all she ever got assigned. Sure, she was excited to get out of the hospital, she always was. But still, escort missions were dull and they drug on endlessly.<p>

Naruto had stopped by the hospital the evening before to tell her she had been requested on a mission. She would join Team Kakashi (Yamato) in escorting, "Some important dude," -Naruto's words-, to Wind Country.

She was, at once, flattered. It was not often she was requested on missions. Hell, it had only happened a few times, and usually she was requested by a team member, _not_ by the client.

That was the sole light to her dull mission; the silver lining, if you will. Still, as she approached the gates of Konoha to meet her team, she was unaware of who had requested her.

"Kiyume Ginaro," the client introduced himself.

A look of recognition flashed across Sakura's face, "Kiyume-sama," she smiled, "How are you feeling?"

Kiyume Ginaro, it turns out, was a patient of Sakura's in the hospital. He was the Wind Daimyo's cousin's great nephew, or something like that. Sakura couldn't remember despite being told, twice. In her defense, the first time she was busy assessing his physical condition.

The second time, well, she was busy assessing his _physical_ condition. He looked every bit the important person he was. He was tall, and muscled. Not lean, and hard like a ninja, but softer around the edges, pointing to his more comfortable lifestyle. Even still, he moved with the grace of a dignitary and she wouldn't be surprised if he could hold his own in a fight (Well, maybe with civilians). He had a darker, more olive complexion than anyone in Konoha, thanks in part to his Wind heritage. His face was structured in a fashion that one might describe as noble, with a strong jawline and prominent cheekbones. His hair was a perfect sheet of brown perfection cascading down his back, only interrupted by the hair tie binding it halfway down. It shone in the sunlight as if it were a solid piece of material, and not individual hairs. The color reminded Sakura of dark chocolate, and she _loved_ dark chocolate. What really struck her though, were his icy blue eyes. They were simultaneously cold and refreshing, like diving into a lake in the spring. And a part of her wanted to do just that, drown in them.

His silky, yet commanding voice broke her quickly derailing train of thought, "I am quite well, thanks to you, Haruno-san."

Much to her dismay, she blushed under his intense gaze. Had she done that when she was treating him? She didn't think so. She didn't recall noticing how attractive he was either.

Although, _checking out_ one's patients was typically frowned upon.

Just then, Yamato cleared his throat, "Well, if everyone is prepared, shall we depart?"

It was only then that she noticed her other teammates. Naruto was digging around in his knapsack, while Sai seemed to be studying Kiyume-sama intently.

"Wait!" Naruto screeched, "I don't think I have enough ramen!"

"I packed extra in my bag," Sai said distractedly, still staring intently at their client.

Sakura smiled slightly at the artist's forethought for his teammate. He was really starting to learn their idiosyncrasies.

Naruto had to have his ramen and Sakura, well, she was a little more complex.

* * *

><p>For the first few hours, Naruto had chattered on endlessly with Kiyume-sama, firing various questions at him, hardly waiting for the answers before spouting the next. Yamato was on point, leading them through the thick forests of Fire Country. Sakura and Sai were bringing up the rear.<p>

"How do you know Kiyume-sama?" Sai questioned, breaking the long standing silence. In truth, the artist had been itching to ask that question since before they even stepped through the gates of Konoha, but he had held back. He found himself struggling with the decision of whether or not to ask. It was odd, he thought, as he usually just said whatever popped into his head.

"He was my patient," she said, with a distant sort of smile. Kiyume Ginaro had journeyed to Konoha specifically for their medical care. It was now known as one of the finest hospital's around, thanks in part to Sakura, and his father had sent him there for treatment. Kiyume-sama had suffered from a chronic illness from a young age, but was rapidly deteriorating despite the medics the Wind Daimyo had gathered. It was under the Kazekage's recommendation that he was sent to Konoha.

Sakura had been unable to cure his disease, but she had essentially reversed all the damage that had been done thus far, and he would be able to return some time in the future for further treatment. In the medic-nin's words, "He was as good as new!"

Despite his replenished health, his father had insisted upon a full team, equipped with a medic, for his journey home; An A-rank mission, by his standards. Kiyume, of course, had immediately known who he wanted as his medic.

It was rather by chance that she had gotten placed with her usual team. Yamato was chosen for his ability to pop up nifty wooden dwellings, as the client was far too important to sleep on the ground. It would be useful, as it promised to be a lengthy journey. Where normally they would arrive at the daimyo's palace in about three and a half days, it would probably take around seven traveling with a civilian.

Before Sai could respond, Yamato halted and turned on his heel, declaring they would rest for ten minutes, if that pleased the client. He agreed, and they all stopped in a small clearing.

Sai was going through his usual motions of sending out a small army of mice to scout the area, while their client looked on in fascination.

"That's interesting," he commented to Sakura, who had put her pack down nearby to fetch her water.

"Kiyume-sama?" she questioned, unaware of what he was indicating.

"Please," he began, "Call me Ginaro." He flashed her a small smile, "I was referring to your teammate's ability to draw things and have them come to life."

"Ginaro-sama," she started, a bit awkwardly.

"Ginaro," he corrected, grinning boyishly at her discomfort.

She cleared her throat quietly, willing the heat in her face to subside, "Ginaro," she hesitated slightly, "You mean Sai? Yes, it's quite unique."

Sai was trying desperately to watch the interaction between their client and Sakura, when Naruto appeared in his vision. "Hey Sai, do you have any beef jerky?"

The ink user leaned sideways, to regain his view, "Did you not pack any?"

The kyuubi container effectively placed himself between Sai and his view again, "No way, I only brought ramen!"

Sai quickly collected some beef jerky from his bag and threw it at his obnoxious teammate, willing him to get the hell out of the way now.

Naruto, of course, didn't, and instead plopped down directly in front of his dark haired teammate.

"…and by sending the mice out he can gather information about the surrounding area," Sakura finished a concise, but not at all revealing, description of what Sai had done. "He's actually an amazing artist too. I mean, when he draws for something besides a mission."

Ginaro, who had been listening intently, smirked, "And yourself? Not much of an artist?"

Sakura ducked her head slightly, "Not at all."

"But you're an amazing medic," he complimented easily, piercing her with his electric eyes.

A blush came, unbidden, to her cheeks, "Thank you Kiyume-sama."

"Ginaro," he reminded, his smirk deepening.

* * *

><p>As night fell, Yamato announced they would stop and make camp. He quickly erected a small cabin-like structure with his justu. In reality it was just a glorified shed, but it beat sleeping on the ground, in any case. He cordoned off an area, effectively giving the client his own "room," or at least his own space. Yamato made his bed immediately outside of this area, Naruto next to him, then Sakura, and finally Sai. Overall, there was just enough room for everyone's comfortable sleeping arrangements.<p>

They ate instant ramen for dinner, Kiyume-sama even proclaiming that's what he'd like. Naruto practically beamed, deciding right then and there that he liked this guy.

"You like ramen?" he asked, excitement bubbling forth from his entire being.

Ginaro grinned after taking a bite of his noodles, "I've never had it before."

Naruto practically shot off of the floor. Surely this was some sort of joke? That or the world's greatest injustice had been served. "Never had it?" he practically screamed.

"Quiet down, Naruto," Sakura scolded, yanking him back down to a sitting position.

"Never had it?" he asked again, his voice lowered only slightly.

The client just shook his head. Naruto inched closer to him, "What do you think?"

"Not bad," he said offhandedly.

"Not bad? It's the greatest thing in the whole world! Ramen is… amazing! You should try Ichiraku's, they have the best ramen in the whole village!"

He smiled before glancing briefly at Sakura, who gave him an exasperated look, "I will remember that on my next visit to Konoha."

Sai, who had remained mostly silent the entire trip thus far, had arrived at a decision.

He did not like Kiyume Ginaro, he did not ilke him at all.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Sai and Naruto were tasked with waking up early to go and catch some fish from the nearby river for breakfast.<p>

"Okay," Naruto started, yawning widely, "I'll make them jump out and you spear them with kunai or.. ink or something."

"I have a better idea," Sai replied, withdrawing his scroll and brush from his pack. He proceeded to draw several birds which looked like eagles. As they sprang to life they immediately flew toward the river and began plucking fish out of it, only to drop them at their master's feet and begin again.

In a few short minutes, they had more than enough fish to go around.

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, patting his teammate on the back quite roughly.

As they hauled their bounty back to the small cabin, Sai decided to strike up a conversation, "What do you think of our client?"

"I feel bad for him, never having ramen. What kind of person goes that long without tasting ramen?"

He should've seen that coming. At least two-thirds of Naruto's brain was seemingly consumed with ramen-related thoughts one hundred percent of the time. He guessed the other third was still asleep.

When they arrived back at the cabin, everyone else was already awake. Yamato had built a fire outside to cook the fish and Sakura was poking it with a stick when they came up. "Wow, that's a lot of fish," she commented.

Naruto grinned, "Sai did this cool bird thing and they all just swooshed down and… fish!" he exclaimed, gesticulating wildly with his hands and slinging fish here and there in the process.

Sakura flashed Sai a smile, causing him to look similar to the day she complimented his clothes- satisfied, proud? But Sakura missed it...

"Good morning everyone," a smooth voice called out. Ginaro stepped out of the cabin and stretched, throwing his arms back to reveal his chest.

His shirtless chest.

Sai unconsciously ground his teeth together before unceremoniously dumping his haul of fish on the ground. Everyone called a "good morning," out to their client.

Everyone except the ink user, who busied himself with cooking breakfast.

* * *

><p>Shortly before they left camp, Sakura was going through her morning grooming rituals. She made a frustrated noise as she attempted to smooth her hair down. She cursed the humidity as she frantically ran her fingers through her mane.<p>

Behind her, Ginaro chuckled, "What's the matter?"

She spun around quickly, surprised that anyone had heard her rant. "My hair," she said, barely containing her awkwardness at the moment, "It's awful. It's going all over the place. I look like a crazy person." She forced a nervous laugh at herself.

He smiled softly at her, "A little," he brushed a piece of her hair back, "But I like it."

Sai, who had been watching, knew what was coming. She was going to punch their client. For some reason, he was going to enjoy this. He leaned forward in his seated position, awaiting the inevitable.

But it never came. Instead, Sakura turned a charming light pink color, she nearly matched her hair. "Thank you, Kiyume-sama."

"Ginaro," he corrected her once again, this time with a wink.

Sai's eyes widened uncontrollably. Mentally, his jaw hit the floor; In reality his expression was schooled. How could that be? It just didn't make sense. If _he_ had said that, as he wanted to so many times, _he'd_ have gotten punched. Instead, she just… just… _thanks_ him!

Sai was utterly confused. He felt… he felt… angry. But why? What did he have to be angry about?

His fists clenched unconsciously at his sides. Sai wasn't really a violent man by nature. There were very few times he _wanted_ to bring harm to someone. He mostly just followed orders. If his captain or Hokage said to kill someone. He did. He did not feel anything regarding it. He simply did as he was told. Even after witnessing the atrocious crimes people committed, he never felt the need to enact justice. Except if someone hurt the people he had bonds with.

But now, now he felt the sudden uncontrollable urge to harm this man, their client. And he had done nothing wrong. But it _felt_ like he had.

* * *

><p>Sai struggled with this newfound feeling the rest of the day. He didn't speak to anyone, instead walking behind their group and glaring, no, downright glowering, at their client. He didn't <em>mean<em> to glower, in fact, he didn't even know he was glowering. Hell, he didn't even know he _could_ glower, but he was.

Sakura was talking animatedly with Ginaro, who was grinning and nodding. Occasionally he would reach over and touch her arm, or shoulder, or push back a bit of her bubblegum hair.

And it _bothered_ Sai immensely. Every time Sakura laughed at their dignitary, his teeth ground together. Every time he touched her, Sai's fists clenched. Every time she tinged pink at something he said, the artist would feel a horrible burning in his chest.

He rubbed unconsciously at his torso, willing the tightness to go away. He simply had to do something. This couldn't go on or he feared he would lose it. What, he didn't know, but it felt as if something was nearing a breaking point. It was rather like bending a paperclip back and forth; Eventually, it snaps.

Suddenly and all at once, it occurred to him. He had been doing extensive research on the courting of females, it was time he put his knowledge into action. He had already been moderately successful, he shouldn't let some infuriating _man_ stop his quest. No, he would do something.

He sprang into action without much more thought, and rushed forward, effectively placing himself between Sakura and their client.

"Knock, knock," he said, no sooner than he had broke between the two of them.

Sakura, who was now on his right, bit back the urge to physically harm her teammate. She didn't want to look like a barbarian in front of their client, even if she _was_ a kunoichi. Instead, she settled for verbal abuse. "Sai! What is wrong with you? How many times have I told you not to interrupt! It's very _rude!_" she screeched. Still, her hands twitched at her sides as they longed to take action.

To his left, Ginaro chuckled, "It's quite alright, Sakura." He turned his attention to the artist, "Who's there?"

"Yodalahi,"

"Yodalihi who?"

"Why are you yodeling?" his punch line was accompanied by a very forced smile.

Sakura, in her usual response to jokes, simply frowned and muttered a cute. Meanwhile, Ginaro was back to his light chuckling. "How about this one," he offered, "A ninja once told me, the quickest way to a man's heart is with a katana."

Much to Sai's dismay, Sakura laughed, light and airy, at their client's joke. The artist frowned, he might've been offended, but he honestly didn't care what the joke was, only that Sakura laughed at it. Was his joke not good enough? He decided to voice his question aloud.

"It was cheesy," Sakura replied without much thought.

The ink user thought for a moment. Yes, cheesy, he remembered now. "But I am not allowed to tell dirty jokes," he said innocently.

Ginaro seemed to find this humorous, as he burst into another round of laughter, this time most definitely at the artist's expense.

Perhaps, if Sai had noticed this, his anger would have grown, but he was still unaccustomed to recognizing when others were making fun of him. Instead, he waited earnestly for Sakura's response.

"No, you're not," she said, barely suppressing her smirk, "And next time, please don't interrupt so rudely." With that, she supposed she was dismissing him from the conversation. And vicinity.

Sai seemed to think otherwise as he wanted to converse further on the subject, "Kiyume-sama's joke was neither dirty nor cheesy?" he questioned.

She heaved a sigh as she snuck a glance at Ginaro. He seemed to be intently listening to the artist, mirth dancing about in his eyes. She really didn't want to have a potentially humiliating "Sai-conversation," right then. She could tell their client was taking great pleasure in her teammates naivety, and it bothered her just a little bit. Not so much because he was downright embarrassing, but because she didn't like to see people mocking him. He was her teammate after all, and it simply wasn't his fault he was so clueless.

She suddenly realized both boys were gazing at her expectantly. "Uhm, Sai, can we talk about it later?"

The artist simply nodded and stopped walking, letting the distance between himself and the rest of the group stretch on, before he proceeded to tail them again. He supposed he should've seen that coming. He did recall Sakura saying that he couldn't force himself to be funny by telling jokes. Although Ginaro seemed to be doing fine, he thought bitterly.

In any case, he would simply have to try something else.

* * *

><p><em>First off: This chapter has been <span>split into two<span> because otherwise it was going to be quite long (And the rest isn't quite finished). If you want the second half, simply send me a review full of begging and pleading. Hah, only joking, but yes, I'm bribing you._

_Apologies: Sorry this isn't fall-on-your-face funny, but I think it's important that Sai experience jealousy in this journey. Hopefully the next chapter will have more humor. _

_Excuses: First reason is I really toiled with this chapter. I wanted to effectively chronicle Sai's first real experience with jealousy properly. I felt like he would probably experience it as anger, since it's a simpler emotion that could disguise itself as jealousy. I would've liked to reread this about a gazillion more times and make it better (Because I honestly feel that I did not do it justice), but I must move forward. _

_Second reason- I wrote these scenes all out of order and I had to swim through them and make some sort of order out of the chaos. _

_Third reason is because I kept losing sight of who this Sai is. I'm simultaneously working on a fic with a much more serious Sai (Not to mention my Neji/Ten fic) and I just kept sort of derailing, sorry. Watching The Big Bang Theory really helps. Am I the only one who thinks Sai is like a badass Sheldon Cooper? :P ... probably... _

_Also, it was really hard finding jokes. Heh._

_Having said that, I'll leave you with a nerdy ninja joke: **Ninja's ****can**** divide by zero.**_

_Big thanks and love to my reviewers, as always! I appreciate each and every one of you. _

_...Next Chapter..._

_What action will Sai take? Will he go overboard? Will their client be upset? Will Sakura?_

_Tune in next time to... Ahem. I mean... review for Part Two! _

**__~Feed the addiction- Review!~__**


	7. Jealous Man Part Two

_Whoa, longest chapter ever! By the way, bribery really works on you lot! I did anticipate getting this out sooner, but things got in the way._

_There are some **IMPORTANT** author notes at the bottom, so please take the time to read. Thanks._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Qualities<em>**

Ch. 7: _Jealous Man - Part Two_

* * *

><p>They had been traveling for three days now, the better part of which Sai had spent in silence. To make matters worse it had been raining for the last four hours. Not something one would expect this time of year in fire country, but there it was, a downright downpour.<p>

Yamato had suggested they push forward. They were only an hour's travel from a small civilian-populated village at the edge of fire country which they could lay over in. An inn and a bath would do them all good.

Oh, and getting dry.

They were all traveling in silence now. Heads down, carefully traversing the soaked terrain. Yamato was scouting ahead, always on the lookout for danger. They didn't perceive any threats on this journey, however. It was glorified babysitting at best. An excellent paycheck, yes, but hardly worthy of its rank. Ginaro was not, by any means, worth attacking. He was not so close to the daimyo that his death would benefit anyone, nor was he really worth any monetary value. He certainly wasn't carrying anything precious. The freak storm they were experiencing was probably the greatest inconvenience they would receive on this mission.

Ginaro and Sakura were traveling behind Yamato. They had been inseparable thus far that day. Only now they weren't talking, only concentrating on how soaked they were getting.

Sai and Naruto were behind, seemingly doing much the same. The artist, however, was concentrating on something far more important.

Sakura.

She had denied his attempts at conversing the night before as they laid down to sleep. She had told him it was late and she was tired, in what he could only guess was something of an irritated tone. He had wanted to ask more about what she found humorous, as she had promised they would discuss it _later._ He assumed later meant, "later that day," but apparently he had been mistaken. Since then he hadn't had a moment to speak to her that she wasn't practically glued to their client's side.

He ground his teeth together as he shifted his gaze to stare at a single point in Kiyume Ginaro's back. Maybe, hopefully, if he stared hard enough-

"Hey, Sai," came a whisper from beside him.

He glanced at the kyuubi container who was trudging along, somehow managing to step into every single noticeable puddle along the way. Some time ago, Sai had arrived at the conclusion that he was doing it on purpose. He cocked his head in answer to the blonde.

"Is something the matter?"

The dark-haired boy merely shook his head to indicate that he was fine. Naruto eyed him suspiciously. The jinchuuriki may not have been the most perceptive fellow ever to walk the forests of fire country, but he knew when something was bothering his friends. Even if he _was_ too blind to see what it was.

"You were staring pretty hard at Kiyume-sama, there. I thought his back was going to catch on fire," he held his hands up to catch a bit of rainwater, "Even in this!" He was still talking fairly quietly, a rare phenomenon for the hyperactive ninja.

Sai shrugged awkwardly, "I was thinking," he answered. Well, he _was_ thinking… about Ginaro's back catching on fire. How had Naruto known?

His blonde teammate brightened up, "About what?"

"Things," he said vaguely.

Naruto frowned.

* * *

><p>It was a great relief to everyone when they finally arrived in the small village. Fukiage was a relatively insignificant town that would normally be out of the way for traveling ninja, but Yamato had planned their route through it. Mostly consisting of farmers, it had little to offer. There was a single marketrestaurant and a lone inn.

Yamato was quick to steer them toward the inn. They were quite the sight, four ninjas and a dignitary, soaking wet with cloaks and hoods, stepping into the small lobby. There was barely enough room to stand without bumping into one another, as their captain secured two rooms.

He wasted no time, and immediately split them into their respective rooms. Himself and the client in one, Sakura, Naruto, and Sai in the other. The wood-user was tightly wound at times about protecting important people, not that Ginaro was up there on the list. In any case, he insisted on staying close.

The medic-nin had shared a room with her teammates on more than one occasion and had no qualms about it. Naruto was scared perv-less by her angry fists, and Sai she never really had a problem with. Although he had been acting weird lately. Still, she could set almost anyone straight with a pointed look.

Before Sai had even gotten the door closed, Sakura was already peeling her wet clothing off. Kami, she was ready to be dry. She shouted something about being quick before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door behind her. The inn was small, but quaint. Sakura wished it had a hot spring, but was thankful for the tub in the bathroom. Hell, she was thankful for the bathroom.

Sai removed his cloak before glancing at the two beds. Sakura typically shared with Naruto, if she shared at all. It was then that he had a brief, but startling thought: He wished Sakura would share a bed with him tonight. He nearly stumbled over the medic-nin's discarded cloak as he recovered from the thought. He didn't know where it had come from, but as he rolled it around in his mind for a moment longer than before, he decided he agreed with it.

The artist was the last to take his bathroom time, that was simply the order of things. He never did mind waiting until last, and so he did. He spent nearly his entire bath contemplating his situation. It seemed whenever he tried to speak with Sakura, he was interrupted or pushed away by Ginaro. He was really starting to have trouble quelling his violent thoughts toward the man. He tried to think back to which of his exploits had gotten the medic-nin's attention most. He remembered that she seemed rather upset whenever he had tried to be sexy. But she _had_ turned that light pinkish color that she seemed to wear so often around Kiyume-sama. Perhaps it was the desired effect.

And so it was decided, he would attempt to be sexy again. He thought over what he had learned from the movies he and Tenten watched, and decided that foregoing his shirt would be a decent first step.

As he emerged from the bathroom and padded across the floor, wearing only his shorter black pants, Sakura barely cast a glance at him before returning to her study of a scroll. He frowned slightly before grabbing his sketchbook and propping himself against the wall opposite her. Naruto had flopped across his bed and had his chin propped in his palm, twirling a kunai in the other hand. He looked positively bored as he considered throwing it at the wall above Sai's head. He was about to, when Yamato entered the room. He had food in tow and a smirking Ginaro was trailing behind.

"I thought we could all eat together in here," he commented, as he passed the small boxes of food around. Everyone was magnificently excited to be eating something besides instant ramen. Except maybe Naruto, but he didn't complain.

Ginaro eased himself on the bed next to Sakura, as Yamato simply leaned against the wall. Sai eyed their client's bold action, something akin to anger flashing in his eyes.

Kiyume-sama struck up a conversation with the medic-nin, who chattered away eagerly as her mood was considerably brightened by bathing.

When their meal was finished, Sakura turned to Kiyume-sama and suggested she give him a brief check-up. He nodded and yanked his shirt off in one swift movement.

"You didn't have to…" Sakura faded off as she trailed her eyes up from his exposed chest to his boyish grin.

Sai's pencil strained under his increased grip as he watched the two of them. Sakura's hands, glowing green on Ginaro's bare chest. Her eyes closed in concentration, as her patient studied her. He tried desperately to ignore them, but he couldn't. It felt as though his world stopped, as though time stopped, and all he could see was them. It felt like an eternity to him, like it would never end - Ginaro staring that way at _his_ Sakura.

His Sakura. That wasn't what he meant. Of course she wasn't his, but she was more his than she was Ginaro's, right? He had no privilege to be looking at her that way, invading her space like that.

The pencil in Sai's hand snapped, bringing everyone's attention his way. Sakura's green glow was interrupted, Kiyume-sama's assault on her senses went with it. Even Naruto and Yamato (who had previously gone unnoticed by Sai) spared a glance at him.

He tossed it unceremoniously in the trashcan, secretly congratulating himself on breaking a certain someone's concentration, and fetched a replacement.

At long last, Ginaro and Yamato retired to their rooms. It was not without a goodnight and a lingering look from Kiyume-sama, which left Sakura looking a little flustered as she prepared her bed. Sai was flooded with a strange mixture of feelings. Relief? Anger? He wasn't sure, but it felt like whatever had been sitting on his chest finally decided to get off.

Typically, Sakura got first choice regarding sleeping arrangements. Sai understood that it was because she was a girl, and therefore had some sort of inalienable right. He still didn't really understand, but apparently it was just a law. Usually if there was only one bed at the inn, she got it. Naruto and Sai would make their own and sleep, much like they would outside. If there were two beds, as was the case right now, it went one of two ways. Either Sakura took one bed, while the other two shared. Or she and Naruto shared, while Sai slept in the other.

Tonight, the situation was of the former variety. Apparently Naruto had offended Sakura with some comment about Ginaro, and was therefore banned from her bed. Sai agreed with the comment, but decided not to voice his opinion, lest he be banned from anything as well.

* * *

><p>Sai lay, staring at the ceiling, studying the strange shapes that were cast upon it by the moonlight and unknown objects. He stole a glance at Sakura, who was on his left, only two arms lengths away, on her bed. Her back was to his, leaving him unaware of her state of consciousness. He then glanced at Naruto, who was sprawled across his half of the bed, face twitching on occasion. He shifted his eyes back to Sakura. He <em>really<em> wanted to talk to her, but she seemed to be stuck to their client by some crazy-sticky cosmic force during the day.

He frowned slightly, it would have to be now. He gently pulled the blanket back, but stilled, as his blonde teammate snorted loudly, "…But I want to eat you for breakfast…" before flopping over on his other side. Sai continued, slowly extricating himself from the bed, as he silently hoped he didn't sound that foolish in his sleep.

"Sakura," he whispered, as quietly as possible, as he hesitantly poked her in the back.

She flipped over violently, her eyes shooting open, "Is something the matter?" she asked, her urgent tone leaking traces of her sleepy state.

"No." The artist shot a glance over his shoulder, only to find Naruto was still sleeping soundly.

The pink-haired girl blinked before rubbing her green eyes with her fists, "What do you want then?"

The ink user paused a moment, before easing himself down on her bed, "I wanted to talk."

"Now?" she asked, pink eyebrows rising.

Sai nodded, "I have not had the chance to speak with you during the day as you are busy entertaining our client." He braced himself for a physical assault.

None came as Sakura scooted over, making room for him on the bed. He settled beside her, feeling more confident than before, and relishing in the fact that she had let him.

"So talk," she commanded, her voice not carrying farther than him.

"I wish for you to explain Kiyume-sama's joke."

Sakura scrunched her face together and closed her eyes, "I don't remember, Sai. It's just… everyone has a different sense of humor."

He pondered this for a moment, but didn't reply.

She yawned and placed her head on Sai's shoulder, "Anything else?"

"Yes," the artist shifted slightly, glancing down at the kunoichi's position, "Why do you enjoy Kiyume-sama's company so much?"

"Mmmm, I don't know," she said tiredly, yawning again, "I just get along with him."

Sai rolled this thought around in his mind for a few minutes before coming to a conclusion. He and Sakura did not seem to "get along." She was always chastising him and getting upset with him. He worried that was why she did not enjoy his company as much as she did Ginaro's.

But more importantly, it appeared that Sakura had fallen asleep on him. He found himself in quite the predicament. His heart was presently thumping in his chest as Sakura unconsciously snuggled closer to him. He snuck a glance at her, as if doing so would get him in trouble. Her pink hair was washed out slightly by the glow of the moonlight. It illuminated her face only slightly, and her angle towards him made her face difficult to see. He could feel her breathing on his arm, and her warmth was contagious and intoxicating.

He felt frozen, as if the slightest move would jar her to her senses and he would be kicked out of her bed and back to the dreaming jinchuuriki. And he didn't want that.

Even worse, he felt like he had these weird fuzzy things crawling around in his stomach. It was very unsettling.

He glanced back at the pink-haired girl and slowly brought his fingers to her face, pushing some of her hair back. He had watched Ginaro do that several times, and had secretly wanted to see what it felt like. He savored the feel of her silky hair between his callused fingers as he gently ran them through her hair.

He didn't know how long he laid there, focusing on regaining his usual heart rate, all he knew was that he desperately wished to stay awake. He didn't want to miss a moment of this.

* * *

><p>Sakura felt something large and warm next to her. She was cold and it felt so nice, so she snuggled into it. A large teddy bear, perhaps? A sexy man? Maybe it was Naruto. She sighed contentedly, either one would be fine with her.<p>

But her brain was having none of it. It was busy forcing rational thoughts into her head, even as she fought them back. She was on a mission, in an inn. There were no giant teddy bears, and definitely not any sexy men. And Naruto was a worse snuggler than she was. Her eyes fluttered open and landed on a solid pale object. She reached up and touched it, causing it to move slightly. It was… a back? She jerked away and blinked rapidly, her eyes settling on her pale teammate's face.

"WHAT THE HELL, SAI!" she screamed before shoving him out of the bed.

He hit the floor with a thud and sat up, rubbing his forehead, "What?" he asked innocently.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she screeched, looking utterly scandalized as she held the blankets around her as if to cover something up.

Naruto had woken up in the commotion and glanced between the two of them, looking very confused and sleepy. He yawned, "What's the matter Sakura-chan?"

Just then, Yamato burst through the door, looking quite concerned, "Is everything okay in here?"

Sai who was picking himself up off the floor, ignored their captain's entrance, "You fell asleep on me, I did not wish to disturb you."

The kyuubi container gasped and stood up on his bed, "You were sleeping in Sakura-chan's bed?" he pointed at his dark haired teammate.

Yamato gave an imperceptible eye roll before deciding that it was best to let them work that kind of thing out on their own. He left without anyone noticing.

"What, after you _disturbed_ me by waking me up to ask me a stupid question?" she shot back heatedly.

The artist blinked, "I am sorry," he said simply, "But it was the only time you were available." He forced a smile onto his face.

Naruto looked on in fascination as they both continued to ignore him.

"You…" Sakura threw a pillow at him as words failed her. Sai only continued to smile as he moved across the room and began pulling his clothing on.

"Knock, knock," came a smooth voice at the door.

"Come in!" Naruto called in reply, stepping down off of the bed.

Ginaro looked concerned as he strode into the room, "I heard a lot of noise in here, is everything okay?"

Sakura stepped away from Sai, "Yes, we're fine." She gathered her clothing and stepped into the bathroom, needing a moment alone. She glanced at herself in the mirror and noticed her pink-tinged cheeks. She hoped the ink user hadn't noticed.

Sai shot a glare at Ginaro, who was lingering in the room, gazing at the bathroom door. "We are trying to prepare for departure," he said pointedly.

Kiyume-sama's icy cold eyes snapped up to meet Sai's, "Of course," he said with forced politeness, before exiting the room.

* * *

><p>The had ultimately departed Fukiage later than anticipated, but everyone was bathed, rested, well-fed, and in high spirits as they hit the road. They would be crossing over into Wind country in about half a day, putting them roughly halfway to their destination.<p>

It couldn't come soon enough for Sai.

Naruto had become bored enough to invent a game whereby he attempted to name flavors of ramen in order of preference (He kept having to start over). He even tried to get Sai to participate, but he had said he didn't really care what flavor it was, leaving Naruto to rant for quite some time that it was, indeed, very important.

Sai had taken it upon himself to eavesdrop on Sakura and their client's every word, effectively tuning the blonde ninja out.

"Have you ever been to the Daimyo's palace?" Ginaro questioned.

The kunoichi shook her head, "Not the Wind Daimyo."

Their client grinned, as he often did to Sakura, "I would be happy to give you a personal tour."

Sakura, who was not especially graceful when receiving such male attention simply responded with an "Okay."

It angered Sai to listen in on their conversations, but he simply couldn't help himself. It always seemed to put him back in the position of staring a hole in Ginaro's back. He didn't even notice that Naruto and Yamato had switched positions.

Now, Yamato was no Kakashi. If he had been he probably would've figured out a _long_ time ago what was going on. Instead, he simply directed a question at the artist, "Something the matter, Sai?"

"I am fine, Yamato-taichou."

"Are you certain?" he pushed.

Sai frowned slightly, there were only three people who could tell how he was feeling, even when he sometimes couldn't. Two of those people were walking in front of him, and the third was back in Konoha, wrangling ninja-wannabe-brats. Was it that obvious he was troubled?

His captain leaned down closer, "You're glaring," he whispered, effectively answering the question. "What's bothering you?" Yamato wasn't normally one to insert himself into his team's business, but damn it, he was getting kind of bored on this mission. He would never admit this.

"I do not know," the artist answered truthfully.

The wood manipulator silently cursed himself for doing this, "How do you feel?"

Sai's jaw tensed, "Angry," he answered almost immediately.

"About?"

"I do not know," came the monotone reply.

"Is your anger directed toward someone?"

Sai closed his eyes for a moment before nodding.

"At…?"

The ink haired boy didn't respond, but instead returned to glowering at their client, his teeth grinding together in frustration.

Yamato followed his gaze and watched for a moment. Sakura was laughing and talking animatedly with Ginaro, who was smirking at whatever it is she was telling him. The team captain chuckled, realization hitting him like a freight train. How had he not noticed?

"I do not find it humorous," the ink user commented.

Yamato was about to point out that he had never witnessed Sai finding _anything_ humorous, but decided against it. "I know what's wrong," he stated instead, "You're jealous."

"Jealous?" the artist inquired, cocking his head as his curiosity overcame his anger for a moment, or rather, jealousy.

His captain nodded, "You're angry that someone has something you want." He immediately felt bad about referring to Sakura as "something," but he decided it was the simplest way to explain the concept to the naive ninja.

"Why?" was his only response.

Yamato shrugged, "It's a human response, it happens to everyone once in a while."

"No," Sai deadpanned, "Why does he get what _I _want."

Yamato lowered his voice even more, "I wouldn't be concerned, Sai. We'll be to our destination soon, and things will be back to normal."

The artist wanted to say that he didn't want _normal,_ because normally she didn't give him as much attention as she was giving Ginaro, and he wanted that. But when he glanced back where Yamato was previously walking, he only saw his blonde-haired teammate.

* * *

><p>It was nearing nightfall now, and the temperature had begun to drop rapidly, as they were now in the desert. The wind had picked up and was carrying stray particles of sand on its back.<p>

Sai had taken to watching Ginaro with tempered curiousity, deciding that perhaps he could learn something from him. He _had_ been right about the hair thing, Sai did enjoy the feel of Sakura's hair between his fingers. Besides, Yamato had said he just needed to wait. They would be rid of the infuriating client soon enough, he just had to be patient. And he was very good at that.

"Are you cold?" Kiyume-sama asked with concern lacing his tone. Without waiting for an answer, he began to remove his cloak.

"I'm alright," came Sakura's answer, but Ginaro didn't seem to be listening as he placed his cloak over her shoulders and smiled at her. She dipped her head and muttered a thanks.

Sai made a mental note to remember that in the future, but was caught off guard as their client turned around and smirked in his direction.

The artist frowned. He wasn't sure why, but that simple glance sparked an even greater hatred for this man than before.

* * *

><p>When the team reached Suna, it was a huge relief. Gaara accepted them with open arms (figuratively, of course), and offered them accommodations for the night.<p>

They were lavish compared to the inn they had stayed in a couple of nights before, and the food was magnificent.

The Kazekage had expressed his pleasure at the fact that Kiyume-sama was well healed and praised Sakura for a job well done.

They were each given their own quarters in the Kage's tower, and were assured that it was absolutely safe. Yamato even got to rest away from their client for the evening.

They had all decided to hit the hot springs. They were already babysitting, why not make a vacation of it? Temari agreed to join Sakura, as she wanted to catch up on things (Read: Ask about Shikamaru). The boys headed out to their own, Kankuro and Gaara had declined.

After they had soaked for some time, Yamato and Naruto had decided to retire, leaving Ginaro and Sai alone.

"You're interested in Sakura," Kiyume-sama stated bluntly, after the others had left.

Sai glanced at him, but did not respond.

"You should stay out of my way, ninja. I always get what I want."

The artist still said nothing, but had the sudden urge to check on Sakura's well-being, so he departed the spring.

Clad in only a towel, he burst into the women's spring, "Sakura!" he called, despite the fact that she was hard to miss, pink head sticking out above the steaming waters.

She squeaked and reached for her towel, "Sai! What is wrong with you! It says _WOMEN'S!_"

Temari smirked, "Hello, Sai. Come to join us?"

He ignored the blonde, "Are you okay?" his question was clearly directed at the medic-nin.

"I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be? Now, _GET. OUT._" She pointed at the entrance to the spring and gave him her sternest look.

"He's hot," Temari commented, after he was gone.

"And strange," Sakura muttered.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Important:: <strong>The semester is starting next week, so updates will probably slow down. How much? I'm not sure, we'll see. Apologies in advance, but I **will **still be actively working on this and other stories. _

_**Important::** If you have the chance, go and check out Eryxl's fic, {**Naruto, Mr Ramen}**. It's a crack fic about Naruto meeting the love of his life: Miso Ramen! Check it out! _

_**Not so important:: **If you typically skip over my rants, now would be the time to stop reading and hit the REVIEW button._

_BIG BIG thanks to my reviewers! If I didn't reply to your review, it's because I'm behind and I was working hard to get this chapter out! Please forgive me! _

_I unwittingly wrote myself into a Suna situation, and was not prepared to write those characters, so their dialogue is limited to non-existent. I _may_ fix this in the next chapter. If you want any special action from any specific Sand character, give me a shout out and I'll see what I can do. _

_Also, this chapter feels rushed and kind of random, but I had a lot of ground to cover and I wanted to move on, so this is it! I wrote alot of this in the wee hours of the morning/ late night, so hopefully it actually makes sense. One can never be sure. _

_**Shadowgirl0616:: **I know I promised Shino would be in the next chapter, but I'm going to have to move him over once more. He'll **definitely** be in **Chapter 9!**_

_...Next Chapter..._

_The mission concludes! Sai is forced to take drastic action... old school style?_

**_~Feed the addiction: Review!~_**


	8. Chivalrous Man

**Qualities**

Ch. 8: _Chivalrous Man_

* * *

><p>A little refresher cause it's been so long!<p>

Last time:

_Clad in only a towel, he burst into the women's spring, "Sakura!" he called, despite the fact that she was hard to miss, pink head sticking out above the steaming waters. _

_She squeaked and reached for her towel, "Sai! What is wrong with you! It says WOMEN'S!" _

_Temari smirked, "Hello, Sai. Come to join us?" _

_He ignored the blonde, "Are you okay?" his question was clearly directed at the medic-nin. _

_"I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be? Now, GET. OUT." She pointed at the entrance to the spring and gave him her sternest look. _

_"He's hot," Temari commented, after he was gone._

_"And strange," Sakura muttered._

* * *

><p>"Are you always that harsh?" Temari asked, fixing the pink haired girl with a pointed look.<p>

Sakura had the presence of mind to look slightly ashamed, "He shouldn't have come in here!" she defended.

"Well, he did seem concerned for you."

"He's always doing odd things. That's just the way he is."

The sand sister quirked her mouth to the side, "I don't know… maybe he _likes_ you." She wiggled her eyebrows exaggeratedly, as if they were young schoolgirls fussing over boys.

The medic-nin scoffed, "Sai doesn't understand those kinds of feelings."

Temari smirked, "Oh, I get it."

"Get what?"

"You've got it bad for him, don't you?"

Sakura physically lurched backward at the implication, "What?"

The blonde chuckled, "I knew it."

"No, I-"

"See, you didn't deny it."

"Yes, I'm denying it now!"

Temari ignored her, "I can't blame you, he's _very_ attractive."

Sakura would be lying if she said she didn't agree with Temari. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't noticed the way Sai's hair, unhindered by his headband, flopped lazily over his face. She'd be lying if she said she didn't notice the drops descending from his dark locks and lazily trailing down his chest, only to soak into the towel wrapped around his waist. She'd be lying if she said she didn't notice the way his body, flushed from the heat of the hot spring, was noticeably less pale than normal.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't appreciate it.

In fact, she had noticed a lot of things about the artist lately. Like the way he tapped his pencil on the end of his nose when he was appraising his sketches, or the way he tugged unconsciously on the end of his new -longer- shirt. Or the way the ends of his mouth tugged up, ever so slightly, almost unnoticeably, when he looked at her.

And she'd be lying if she said she hadn't tried really, _really_ hard not to notice those things. Because she didn't want to. She didn't want to notice how attractive the artist was, or how earnest his attempts to be normal were. She didn't want to notice how he always smelled of ink and paper, and how she found herself inhaling those scents deeply when he was near.

He was her teammate, damn it. And he was Sai, _clueless_ Sai. But ever since that stupid training incident with Team Guy, she simply couldn't help herself.

* * *

><p>Sai did not appear dejected as he exited the women's hot spring. Sakura was fine and that was all that mattered.<p>

"She's always treating you that way, isn't she?" came a voice to his right, it was taunting and thick with implication, but Sai failed to recognize these attributes. He glanced over to see Kiyume Ginaro leaning against the wall, clad in only a white fluffy towel. He looked quite smug, as he often did, as he ran a hand through his moist, chocolatey hair.

Sai wisely chose to ignore the man, and instead turned left and began walking away, the padding of his damp feet on the cold floor his only response.

"Always screaming at you, abusing you…" the voice was clearly following him. He feigned concern, "It must be difficult."

The artist paused, behind him, Ginaro smirked. He just knew it would be too easy, manipulating the ignorant ninja.

"What must be difficult?" Sai questioned, a bit of naivety leaking through.

"Knowing that she prefers me," he stated with a full blown grin, "It's obvious when you think about it."

Sai continued facing away from him, "Sakura is being polite to you as our client. It is normal social convention as well as professional courtesy."

Ginaro snorted in a rather unattractive fashion, "Is that what you think? You really are clueless."

Sai's jaw clenched so tightly he briefly feared for its wellbeing. His chest was constricting in a most unpleasant way and the only thing he could think of were creative ways of murdering someone and making it look accidental.

But Sai was an intelligent man. He wasn't a prodigy, like Neji; Or genius smart, like Kakashi; Or "it runs in our blood," brilliant like the Uchiha's. No, he was simply gifted with ability to logically predict the outcome of certain situations. His social incompetence belied this fact, and few ever took notice of it, but it was existent none the less. He knew that harming the daimyo's relative would have consequences, not only to himself, but to all of Konoha.

He was also hopelessly ingrained with the need to successfully complete the mission, at all costs. He simply _could not_ fail. And he was pretty sure injuring their client would be considered a failure.

He found, however, that neither of these reasons were preventing him from assassinating Kiyume Ginaro. Well, perhaps he wouldn't completely off the young man, but it was safe to say he was still considering that an option. In any case, the only thing stopping him was Sakura.

He would gladly shoulder the consequences of such an act, and he could easily overcome the failure aspect, but Sakura, what would she say? Would she be angry? She seemed to have taken quite a liking to Ginaro. He imagined it would be a bit like that time he had accidentally spilled ink all over her favorite new shoes. He had simply wanted to show her his new jutsu, but she had been on her way to a get-together with Ino. He had insisted of course, and, well, the rest is history. She had been so angry that all she could say was, _run_ - In a very calm voice - and so he did.

He always was good at following orders.

Ino had later explained that girls were very attached to their shoes, so Sai could only guess that Sakura's relationship to Ginaro was similar.

It was for that reason, and that reason alone, that he simply put his head down and walked away, channeling his violent urges into varying degrees of fist clenching.

* * *

><p>The last leg of the trip was layered in a heavy blanket of tension.<p>

Sakura was struggling with the realization that just maybe she was a little more attached to Sai than she had previously realized.

Sai was rolling Ginaro's words over and over in his mind. He couldn't help but think that they were true. Sakura _did_ yell at him an awful lot, but she did that to everyone. Except Ginaro. Could it be that he was special?

Ginaro was feeling quite pleased with himself, but a bit irritated that Sakura was largely ignoring him.

Yamato knew exactly what was going on and didn't want to interfere.

And Naruto… Well, Naruto thought it was his job to make everything better.

"Hey! Let's play a game!" he exclaimed, jumping in front of Sakura and Ginaro and starting to walk backwards.

"I don't want to play charades with you, Naruto. The answer is always ramen," Sakura said in an irritated tone.

Naruto frowned, "It is not! Sometimes it's Ichiraku!"

The medic-nin smiled despite herself, "Okay, what game?"

"I'm glad you asked! It's an excellent question because I said 'let's play a game,' so naturally you'd want to know-"

"You're stalling because it was charades, wasn't it?"

The kyuubi container grinned, "You know me so well, Sakura-chan."

"That's cause you're so predictable," she said, before reaching up and ruffling his blonde locks.

"Oh! How about 'What's in the box?'"

"…Ramen."

"Dang it!"

* * *

><p>It was an enormous relief for everyone when the group finally reached the daimyo's palace. It had been a long and taxing trip for everyone, and even though they weren't in any mortal danger along the way, there were plenty of difficult moments for everyone.<p>

In an effort to place himself back in Sakura's good graces, and perhaps piss off a certain artist-nin, Ginaro graciously offered to give the pink haired girl a special tour of the palace.

It was lavish in every way, and far more beautiful than anything Sakura had ever seen. After being covered in various bodily fluids at her job for several months, it was hard to deny the change of scenery. She admired everything from the intricate architecture to the rich fabrics and colors, even relishing the expensive rugs under her feet. It even smelled fantastic. Every room she was shown seemed to have a magnificent smell all its own, whether it was jasmine in the main hall, or chamomile in the tea room.

And lastly was the garden. It was, by and far, the most extraordinary garden she had ever laid eyes on. The main walkway, which was made of beautiful grey stones with hints of blues and purples in them, was lined in cherry blossom trees down the entire length. It ended at a small wooden bridge that crossed a moderate sized koi pond. Beyond that was what appeared to be a very large maze made of hedges. On either side of the walkway were flowers of every color and kind spanning quite a distance out, dotted with small stone and wooden benches here and there.

Sakura took a sharp intake of breath as her eyes took in the scene far faster than her mind could comprehend. She inhaled deeply through her nose, taking in the mix of various sweet smelling flowers, largely overpowered by the cherry blossoms. "It's beautiful!" she whispered, in a rare moment of audible restraint.

Ginaro, who was standing beside her now, gently grasped her hand, lacing his fingers with hers, causing her to glance up at him, "As are you."

Sakura felt a tingle in her chest. It had been quite some time since she had received such open affections from someone of the opposite sex. There was no denying she was enjoying it. But still…

But still, there was a nagging feeling she couldn't shake. A buzz at the edge of her mind that prevented her from enjoying herself completely.

None the less, she smiled shyly, a hint of a blush dusting her cheeks as he brushed the fingers of his other hand gently down her jaw. She noticed how incredibly soft they were, unlike any ninja's hands. As he stepped closer, his presence invading her space, she took in his scent. He smelled like a forest, but not a real, woodsy smell one got from being _in _the forest, rather an artificial smell. "Sakura," he breathed out in almost a whisper.

"Stop," came a voice. It was Sai, but rather than his usual monotone, it was an octave higher, and laced with something akin to excitement.

Sakura immediately broke free of Ginaro's grasp and stumbled backward a few steps in her hurry to put some distance between the two. In an effort to regain her composure, and perhaps hide a bit of embarrassment, she did what Sakura did best - she yelled. "Sai! What are you doing?"

But he didn't seem to hear her, in fact, he didn't even seem to _see_ her as he stalked toward Kiyume-sama, "I challenge you," he said, in a very low, very serious voice.

Ginaro let out a breathy laugh, "What?"

"I challenge you," Sai repeated, a little louder. He was saying it right, wasn't he? As an afterthought, he yanked his glove off and threw it at the client.

Embarrassingly, Ginaro missed it, and the artist's glove hit him in the face. He chuckled haughtily anyway, "And for what, may I ask, are you challenging me?"

A smile slowly slid across Sai's face, a fake one, of course, "Sakura's honor."

Sakura was positively dumbfounded as she watched the scene unfold before her. How Sai always managed to be so embarrassingly clueless, no matter the situation, was a feat that continued to amaze her.

This particular instance, however, happened to be partially Tenten's fault. When she and Sai were watching 'educational' movies, she fell asleep. Eager to learn everything he could, the artist-nin forged on through the stack of movies until he reached the one on the bottom. The one that wasn't _really_ part of the stack, but was just poorly placed. The one that happened to be an old movie with knights and maidens and chivalry galore.

The one that Sai was currently copying to the best of his ability.

Ginaro scoffed in disbelief. There was no doubt about it, this ninja was _crazy_. And weird. "Her honor?," he questioned with mild disbelief.

After briefly being thankful that the artist wasn't singing her poems of love, Sakura regained her senses in time to chime in, "My honor?"

Sai, still wearing his wooden smile, spoke only to their client, "Yes, the winner earns Sakura's affections."

If there was anything to be said for the medic-nin, it was that she did an excellent job of holding her temper.

"My _affections_?" she ground out.

For a second…

"My _affections_ are not something to be _won!" _she screeched as she stalked over to the still smiling artist. "I am _not_ an object!" she wailed as she clonked him square in the face with one of her famous punches. The dark haired nin flew several meters before a wooden bench broke his fall. He let out a quiet groan before falling limp.

Suddenly, Ginaro wasn't too keen on 'earning the affections' of the pink haired monster. He cleared his throat awkwardly as he sidled away from the kunoichi, hoping he wasn't next on her list. "Yes, I wasn't going to agree to that," he interjected into the silence, hoping to save himself any retribution.

Sakura hardly seemed to notice him as she continued to mumble and grumble about idiots and chauvinism.

* * *

><p>After profuse apologies from Yamato, mortified ones from Sakura, and some healing justus for Sai, the team was on their way home.<p>

No doubt Sakura was still livid with Sai. Naruto was both curious and a little frightened.

And Yamato could only curse his fate for being the captain of a team with a junchuruuki, a fiery medic-nin, and a clueless ninja with a crush on the former.

Sakura had at first refused to heal the artist, but after much persuasion (read: threats) from Yamato, and a reminder that she was the team's _medic_, she gave in. But she'd be damned if she didn't make it _hurt_ while she fixed it.

And stupid Sai with his stupid ROOT training just sat there with the world's most stoic expression while she painfully yanked his nose back into place with a few unnecessary bumps and movements thrown in.

The truth was, the artist-nin was more than a little put out. He wasn't sure what he had done wrong. He had acted just like the guy in the movie, and _his_ girl had swooned and fallen into his arms, _not_ punched his lights out. What's more, she was angry with him, and he hated that. He couldn't help but hear Ginaro's infuriating voice in his head: _She's always treating you that way, isn't she?_

He didn't like this feeling at all. It felt like someone was suffocating him, but no one was near. His chest clenched painfully with every thought of Sakura's past actions. Every scream directed at him, every punch delivered.

Perhaps he needed to face facts. Perhaps Ginaro was right, maybe Sakura didn't like him.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the wind rush past him. He had fallen behind as they traveled through the trees. It was faster without a civilian, and they were already back in fire country.

And Sakura, she hadn't said a single word to him the entire time. He probably would've preferred her yelling to her silence, but any time he tried to speak with her, all he got was her blatant refusal to acknowledge his presence.

But she couldn't, she simply couldn't handle it right now. She knew she was in the wrong, she knew she had overreacted. After all, it was Sai, clueless Sai. He didn't know what he was saying, he didn't mean it. And she knew that, but she couldn't bring herself to forgive him.

She didn't _want_ to forgive him. Because if she did, she'd have to face facts. Ones she didn't want to face right now. It was easier to be mad, it was always easier.

* * *

><p>They had stopped to make camp for the night, their final stop before reaching Konoha, and Sakura was currently on watch. She was poised on a log, right outside of the shelter Yamato had built, and was presently poking the ground with a stick.<p>

"Are you cold?" came a voice from behind her. He was quiet, she'd give him that, but she knew who it was, she'd recognize his presence anywhere.

Without waiting for an answer, Sai gently draped his cloak over the petite pink-haired girl, before taking a seat beside her.

"Sai, it's like a hundred degrees out here," she whispered, shrugging the cloak off, "I'm not cold."

He couldn't help but feel the slightest bit triumphant. She had spoken to him. "I saw Kiyume-sama do it," he replied candidly.

"When it was _cold_," she bit out.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"Yes."

Sai chose not to answer this time. He wanted to ask why, and he supposed he should say sorry. But really, he needed to know why he was apologizing, and asking would be unwise, he was sure.

"Why are you copying people?" Sakura questioned, out of the blue.

The artist shrugged awkwardly, "It is how I learn to act properly."

"Well, yeah, we all learn by example, but copying to a tee is a bit extreme."

"Then what should I do?"

Sakura broke the stick in half that she was playing with before looking her teammate in the eye, "Don't forget to mix in a little of yourself. And for Kami's sake, if it's hot outside, don't offer someone your cloak." Without waiting for his reply, she stood and dusted her bum off, "Goodnight, Sai."

* * *

><p>It was bad luck, really. A case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.<p>

In this particular instance, the wrong place was the Hokage's office, and the wrong time was after Shuzine had hidden her sake and plopped a mountain of paperwork in front her.

Yamato had done his best to give a mission report that included the barest of details while making it sound thorough.

Unfotunately, Tsunade was delightfully efficient at drawing out the truth and had managed to pry the entire painful story out of the wood-user. The slug-princess listened with quiet intensity as Yamato recounted their mission again, this time with missing details.

And then it happened, that _look_. The eerily calm smile that settled on the Hokage's face when she was beyond livid. Sakura knew it all too well, it meant trouble. It was the calm before the storm. The dam was about to break. She discreetly glanced around for something to shield herself with as Tsunade dismissed Yamato and an oddly quiet Naruto.

"Both of you," she began quietly, and then exploded, "What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" She picked up the nearest blunt object, which happened to be a slug shaped paperweight, and threw it at a smiling Sai.

Much to her annoyance, he reached up and casually caught it before it hit him in the shoulder.

"Are both of you completely insane! Behaving in such a way around the daimyo's relative! I should beat the stupid out of you both myself!" She slammed a fist on her desk, which incidentally already had a few cracks and splinters in it.

She then turned her attention exclusively to Sakura, who noted a vein protruding from her forehead, "You should know better, Sakura!"

The medic-nin gulped and nodded solemnly. The best thing to do was stay quiet and just agree with her. And _stay quiet_.

"Hokage-sama," Sai spoke up, causing Sakura to mentally face palm. Didn't he know it was best not to talk? "It is not Sakura's fault, the blame rests entirely with me."

"Quiet!" Tsuande screeched, tossing some sort of figurine at his head, which he narrowly avoided, "Was I talking to you?"

"No ma'm, but-"

"I said quiet!"

"But you ask-"

"Quiet!"

Sakura quickly clamped a hand over her errant teammate's mouth before he got himself seriously injured. She coupled it with a pointed look, but in all honesty, figured it was lost on him.

"You are both suspended from missions until further notice," Tsuande stated in a steady tone. "Furthermore, since you both insist on behaving like children, you will be assisting Iruka-san with the pre-genin academy students for the time being. You will report to him first thing tomorrow." She glared at them, daring either of them to comment. Satisfied that she had instilled enough fear, she spoke again, "Good. Now get the hell out of my sight."

* * *

><p><em>Okie dokie then. Yes you finally get an update, hallelujah! <em>

_First I've gotta say, this is my least favorite chapter but boy am I glad to be done with that mission bit. _

_Second of all, my reasons for taking so damn long to update all pretty much have to do with me hating this chapter. I had serious writer's block and instead started another fic (heh). Then every time I wrote something on this one It ended up sounding incredibly juvenile and I was so disgusted with it that I deleted it. _

_Having said that, I still am not even remotely pleased with it but I'm just going to move on to greener pastures. _

_I must say that I did really screw up the last scene in the previous chapter and rushed it a bit. I've gotta give a shout out to CarolNuts for calling me out on that and discussing this chapter a bit with me. Although she kinda disappeared on me when I went to ask her opinion on the final version of this. Thanks though, if you're out there! _

_Other than that... not much to say. Spring break is next week so maybe I'll get something done on the next chapter. It should be easier now that I finished this awful chapter! _

_The next one is the Shino chapter, finally, I know. I'm not even sure if the reader that requested Shino's appearance is still out there! If you are, I'm grateful to you for your request gave me an idea for a quality I might have otherwise passed over. **Can anyone guess what it is? **_

_**Big huge awesome thanks to my reviewers! I really do appreciate it and I read each and every one of your comments (sometimes more than once).**_

So yes, the next chapter is the Shino chapter. Why? Because someone requested him. (I'm practicing already... How am I doing?)


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